Search results for: L3 transverse open wedge osteotomy
3024 An Approach for Estimating Open Education Resources Textbook Savings: A Case Study
Authors: Anna Ching-Yu Wong
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Introduction: Textbooks play a sizable portion of the overall cost of higher education students. It is a board consent that open education resources (OER) reduce the te4xtbook costs and provide students a way to receive high-quality learning materials at little or no cost to them. However, there is less agreement over exactly how much. This study presents an approach for calculating OER savings by using SUNY Canton NON-OER courses (N=233) to estimate the potentially textbook savings for one semester – Fall 2022. The purpose in collecting data is to understand how much potentially saved from using OER materials and to have a record for future further studies. Literature Reviews: In the past years, researchers identified the rising cost of textbooks disproportionately harm students in higher education institutions and how much an average cost of a textbook. For example, Nyamweya (2018) found that on average students save $116.94 per course when OER adopted in place of traditional commercial textbooks by using a simple formula. Student PIRGs (2015) used reports of per-course savings when transforming a course from using a commercial textbook to OER to reach an estimate of $100 average cost savings per course. Allen and Wiley (2016) presented at the 2016 Open Education Conference on multiple cost-savings studies and concluded $100 was reasonable per-course savings estimates. Ruth (2018) calculated an average cost of a textbook was $79.37 per-course. Hilton, et al (2014) conducted a study with seven community colleges across the nation and found the average textbook cost to be $90.61. There is less agreement over exactly how much would be saved by adopting an OER course. This study used SUNY Canton as a case study to create an approach for estimating OER savings. Methodology: Step one: Identify NON-OER courses from UcanWeb Class Schedule. Step two: View textbook lists for the classes (Campus bookstore prices). Step three: Calculate the average textbook prices by averaging the new book and used book prices. Step four: Multiply the average textbook prices with the number of students in the course. Findings: The result of this calculation was straightforward. The average of a traditional textbooks is $132.45. Students potentially saved $1,091,879.94. Conclusion: (1) The result confirms what we have known: Adopting OER in place of traditional textbooks and materials achieves significant savings for students, as well as the parents and taxpayers who support them through grants and loans. (2) The average textbook savings for adopting an OER course is variable depending on the size of the college and as well as the number of enrollment students.Keywords: textbook savings, open textbooks, textbook costs assessment, open access
Procedia PDF Downloads 753023 Priming through Open Book MCQ Test: A Tool for Enhancing Learning in Medical Undergraduates
Authors: Bharti Bhandari, Bharati Mehta, Sabyasachi Sircar
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Medical education is advancing in India, with its advancement newer innovations are being incorporated in teaching and assessment methodology. Our study focusses on a teaching innovation that is more student-centric than teacher-centric and is the need of the day. The teaching innovation was carried out in 1st year MBBS students of our institute. Students were assigned control and test groups. Priming was done for the students in the test group with an open-book MCQ based test in a particular topic before delivering formal didactic lecture on that topic. The control group was not assigned any such exercise. This was followed by formal didactic lecture on the same topic. Thereafter, both groups were assessed on the same topic. The marks were compiled and analysed using appropriate statistical tests. Students were also given questionnaire to elicit their views on the benefits of “self-priming”. The mean marks scored in theory assessment by the test group were statistically higher than the marks scored by the controls. According to students’ feedback, the ‘self-priming “process was interesting, helped in better orientation during class-room lectures and better understanding of the topic. They want it to be repeated for other topics with moderate difficulty level. Better performance of the students in the primed group validates the combination of student-centric priming model and didactic lecture as superior to the conventional, teacher-centric methods alone. If this system is successfully followed, the present teacher-centric pedagogy should increasingly give way to student-centric activities where the teacher is only a facilitator.Keywords: medical education, open-book test, pedagogy, priming
Procedia PDF Downloads 4443022 Ontological Modeling Approach for Statistical Databases Publication in Linked Open Data
Authors: Bourama Mane, Ibrahima Fall, Mamadou Samba Camara, Alassane Bah
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At the level of the National Statistical Institutes, there is a large volume of data which is generally in a format which conditions the method of publication of the information they contain. Each household or business data collection project includes a dissemination platform for its implementation. Thus, these dissemination methods previously used, do not promote rapid access to information and especially does not offer the option of being able to link data for in-depth processing. In this paper, we present an approach to modeling these data to publish them in a format intended for the Semantic Web. Our objective is to be able to publish all this data in a single platform and offer the option to link with other external data sources. An application of the approach will be made on data from major national surveys such as the one on employment, poverty, child labor and the general census of the population of Senegal.Keywords: Semantic Web, linked open data, database, statistic
Procedia PDF Downloads 1753021 Automated User Story Driven Approach for Web-Based Functional Testing
Authors: Mahawish Masud, Muhammad Iqbal, M. U. Khan, Farooque Azam
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Manual writing of test cases from functional requirements is a time-consuming task. Such test cases are not only difficult to write but are also challenging to maintain. Test cases can be drawn from the functional requirements that are expressed in natural language. However, manual test case generation is inefficient and subject to errors. In this paper, we have presented a systematic procedure that could automatically derive test cases from user stories. The user stories are specified in a restricted natural language using a well-defined template. We have also presented a detailed methodology for writing our test ready user stories. Our tool “Test-o-Matic” automatically generates the test cases by processing the restricted user stories. The generated test cases are executed by using open source Selenium IDE. We evaluate our approach on a case study, which is an open source web based application. Effectiveness of our approach is evaluated by seeding faults in the open source case study using known mutation operators. Results show that the test case generation from restricted user stories is a viable approach for automated testing of web applications.Keywords: automated testing, natural language, restricted user story modeling, software engineering, software testing, test case specification, transformation and automation, user story, web application testing
Procedia PDF Downloads 3873020 Ultrasonic Measurement of Elastic Properties of Fiber Reinforced Composite Materials
Authors: Hatice Guzel, Imran Oral, Huseyin Isler
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In this study, elastic constants, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratios, and shear moduli of orthotropic composite materials, consisting of E-glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy, were calculated by ultrasonic velocities which were measured using ultrasonic pulse-echo method. 35 MHz computer controlled analyzer, 60 MHz digital oscilloscope, 5 MHz longitudinal probe, and 2,25 MHz transverse probe were used for the measurements of ultrasound velocities, the measurements were performed at ambient temperature. It was understood from the data obtained in this study that, measured ultrasound velocities and the calculated elasticity coefficients were depending on the fiber orientations.Keywords: composite materials, elastic constants, orthotropic materials, ultrasound
Procedia PDF Downloads 2933019 A Multi-Layer Based Architecture for the Development of an Open Source CAD/CAM Integration Virtual Platform
Authors: Alvaro Aguinaga, Carlos Avila, Edgar Cando
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This article proposes a n-layer architecture, with a web client as a front-end, for the development of a virtual platform for process simulation on CNC machines. This Open-Source platform includes a CAD-CAM interface drawing primitives, and then used to furnish a CNC program that triggers a touch-screen virtual simulator. The objectives of this project are twofold. First one is an educational component that fosters new alternatives for the CAD-CAM/CNC learning process in undergrad and grade schools and technical and technological institutes emphasizing in the development of critical skills, discussion and collaborative work. The second objective puts together a research and technological component that will take the state of the art in CAD-CAM integration to a new level with the development of optimal algorithms and virtual platforms, on-line availability, that will pave the way for the long-term goal of this project, that is, to have a visible and active graduate school in Ecuador and a world wide Open-Innovation community in the area of CAD-CAM integration and operation of CNC machinery. The virtual platform, developed as a part of this study: (1) delivers improved training process of students, (2) creates a multidisciplinary team and a collaborative work space that will push the new generation of students to face future technological challenges, (3) implements industry standards for CAD/CAM, (4) presents a platform for the development of industrial applications. A protoype of this system was developed and implemented in a network of universities and technological institutes in Ecuador.Keywords: CAD-CAM integration, virtual platforms, CNC machines, multi-layer based architecture
Procedia PDF Downloads 4273018 Households’ Willingness to Pay for Watershed Management Practices in Lake Hawassa Watershed, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Mulugeta Fola, Mengistu Ketema, Kumilachew Alamerie
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Watershed provides vast economic benefits within and beyond the management area of interest. But most watersheds in Ethiopia are increasingly facing the threats of degradation due to both natural and man-made causes. To reverse these problems, communities’ participation in sustainable management programs is among the necessary measures. Hence, this study assessed the households’ willingness to pay for watershed management practices through a contingent valuation study approach. Double bounded dichotomous choice with open-ended follow-up format was used to elicit the households’ willingness to pay. Based on data collected from 275 randomly selected households, descriptive statistics results indicated that most households (79.64%) were willing to pay for watershed management practices. A bivariate Probit model was employed to identify determinants of households’ willingness to pay and estimate mean willingness to pay. Its result shows that age, gender, income, livestock size, perception of watershed degradation, social position, and offered bids were important variables affecting willingness to pay for watershed management practices. The study also revealed that the mean willingness to pay for watershed management practices was calculated to be 58.41 Birr and 47.27 Birr per year from the double bounded and open-ended format, respectively. The study revealed that the aggregate welfare gains from watershed management practices were calculated to be 931581.09 Birr and 753909.23 Birr per year from double bounded dichotomous choice and open-ended format, respectively. Therefore, the policymakers should make households to pay for the services of watershed management practices in the study area.Keywords: bivariate probit model, contingent valuation, watershed management practices, willingness to pay
Procedia PDF Downloads 2243017 Separation of Rare-Earth Metals from E-Wastes
Authors: Gulsara Akanova, Akmaral Ismailova, Duisek Kamysbayev
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The separation of rare earth metals (REM) from a neodymium magnet has been widely studied in the last year. The waste of computer hard disk contains 25.41 % neodymium, 64.09 % iron, and <<1 % boron. To further the separation of rare-earth metals, the magnet dissolved in open and closed systems with nitric acid. In the closed system, the magnet was dissolved in a microwave sample preparation system at different temperatures and pressures and the dissolution process lasted 1 hour. In the open system, the acid dissolution of the magnet was conducted at room temperature and the process lasted 30-40 minutes. To remove the iron in the magnet, oxalic acid was used and precipitated as oxalates under both conditions. For separation of rare earth metals (Nd, Pr and Dy) from magnet waste is used sorption method.Keywords: dissolution of the magnet, Neodymium magnet, rare earth metals, separation, Sorption
Procedia PDF Downloads 2093016 Laparoscopic Proximal Gastrectomy in Gastroesophageal Junction Tumours
Authors: Ihab Saad Ahmed
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Background For Siewert type I and II gastroesophageal junction tumor (GEJ) laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy can be performed. It is associated with several perioperative benefits compared with open proximal gastrectomy. The use of laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) has become an increasingly popular approach for select tumors Methods We describe our technique for LPG, including the preoperative work-up, illustrated images of the main principle steps of the surgery, and our postoperative course. Results Thirteen pts (nine males, four female) with type I, II (GEJ) adenocarcinoma had laparoscopic radical proximal gastrectomy and D2 lymphadenectomy. All of our patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, eleven patients had intrathoracic anastomosis through mini thoracotomy (two hand sewn end to end anastomoses and the other 9 patient end to side using circular stapler), two patients with intrathoracic anastomosis had flap and wrap technique, two patients had thoracoscopic esophageal and mediastinal lymph node dissection with cervical anastomosis The mean blood loss 80ml, no cases were converted to open. The mean operative time 250 minute Average LN retrieved 19-25, No sever complication such as leakage, stenosis, pancreatic fistula ,or intra-abdominal abscess were reported. Only One patient presented with empyema 1.5 month after discharge that was managed conservatively. Conclusion For carefully selected patients, LPG in GEJ tumour type I and II is a safe and reasonable alternative for open technique , which is associated with similar oncologic outcomes and low morbidity. It showed less blood loss, respiratory infections, with similar 1- and 3-year survival rates.Keywords: LPG(laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy, GEJ( gastroesophageal junction tumour), d2 lymphadenectomy, neoadjuvant cth
Procedia PDF Downloads 1253015 Subclasses of Bi-Univalent Functions Associated with Hohlov Operator
Authors: Rashidah Omar, Suzeini Abdul Halim, Aini Janteng
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The coefficients estimate problem for Taylor-Maclaurin series is still an open problem especially for a function in the subclass of bi-univalent functions. A function f ϵ A is said to be bi-univalent in the open unit disk D if both f and f-1 are univalent in D. The symbol A denotes the class of all analytic functions f in D and it is normalized by the conditions f(0) = f’(0) – 1=0. The class of bi-univalent is denoted by The subordination concept is used in determining second and third Taylor-Maclaurin coefficients. The upper bound for second and third coefficients is estimated for functions in the subclasses of bi-univalent functions which are subordinated to the function φ. An analytic function f is subordinate to an analytic function g if there is an analytic function w defined on D with w(0) = 0 and |w(z)| < 1 satisfying f(z) = g[w(z)]. In this paper, two subclasses of bi-univalent functions associated with Hohlov operator are introduced. The bound for second and third coefficients of functions in these subclasses is determined using subordination. The findings would generalize the previous related works of several earlier authors.Keywords: analytic functions, bi-univalent functions, Hohlov operator, subordination
Procedia PDF Downloads 2933014 Predicting Open Chromatin Regions in Cell-Free DNA Whole Genome Sequencing Data by Correlation Clustering
Authors: Fahimeh Palizban, Farshad Noravesh, Amir Hossein Saeidian, Mahya Mehrmohamadi
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In the recent decade, the emergence of liquid biopsy has significantly improved cancer monitoring and detection. Dying cells, including those originating from tumors, shed their DNA into the blood and contribute to a pool of circulating fragments called cell-free DNA. Accordingly, identifying the tissue origin of these DNA fragments from the plasma can result in more accurate and fast disease diagnosis and precise treatment protocols. Open chromatin regions are important epigenetic features of DNA that reflect cell types of origin. Profiling these features by DNase-seq, ATAC-seq, and histone ChIP-seq provides insights into tissue-specific and disease-specific regulatory mechanisms. There have been several studies in the area of cancer liquid biopsy that integrate distinct genomic and epigenomic features for early cancer detection along with tissue of origin detection. However, multimodal analysis requires several types of experiments to cover the genomic and epigenomic aspects of a single sample, which will lead to a huge amount of cost and time. To overcome these limitations, the idea of predicting OCRs from WGS is of particular importance. In this regard, we proposed a computational approach to target the prediction of open chromatin regions as an important epigenetic feature from cell-free DNA whole genome sequence data. To fulfill this objective, local sequencing depth will be fed to our proposed algorithm and the prediction of the most probable open chromatin regions from whole genome sequencing data can be carried out. Our method integrates the signal processing method with sequencing depth data and includes count normalization, Discrete Fourie Transform conversion, graph construction, graph cut optimization by linear programming, and clustering. To validate the proposed method, we compared the output of the clustering (open chromatin region+, open chromatin region-) with previously validated open chromatin regions related to human blood samples of the ATAC-DB database. The percentage of overlap between predicted open chromatin regions and the experimentally validated regions obtained by ATAC-seq in ATAC-DB is greater than 67%, which indicates meaningful prediction. As it is evident, OCRs are mostly located in the transcription start sites (TSS) of the genes. In this regard, we compared the concordance between the predicted OCRs and the human genes TSS regions obtained from refTSS and it showed proper accordance around 52.04% and ~78% with all and the housekeeping genes, respectively. Accurately detecting open chromatin regions from plasma cell-free DNA-seq data is a very challenging computational problem due to the existence of several confounding factors, such as technical and biological variations. Although this approach is in its infancy, there has already been an attempt to apply it, which leads to a tool named OCRDetector with some restrictions like the need for highly depth cfDNA WGS data, prior information about OCRs distribution, and considering multiple features. However, we implemented a graph signal clustering based on a single depth feature in an unsupervised learning manner that resulted in faster performance and decent accuracy. Overall, we tried to investigate the epigenomic pattern of a cell-free DNA sample from a new computational perspective that can be used along with other tools to investigate genetic and epigenetic aspects of a single whole genome sequencing data for efficient liquid biopsy-related analysis.Keywords: open chromatin regions, cancer, cell-free DNA, epigenomics, graph signal processing, correlation clustering
Procedia PDF Downloads 1503013 Efficient Pre-Processing of Single-Cell Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin with High-Throughput Sequencing Data
Authors: Fan Gao, Lior Pachter
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The primary tool currently used to pre-process 10X Chromium single-cell ATAC-seq data is Cell Ranger, which can take very long to run on standard datasets. To facilitate rapid pre-processing that enables reproducible workflows, we present a suite of tools called scATAK for pre-processing single-cell ATAC-seq data that is 15 to 18 times faster than Cell Ranger on mouse and human samples. Our tool can also calculate chromatin interaction potential matrices, and generate open chromatin signal and interaction traces for cell groups. We use scATAK tool to explore the chromatin regulatory landscape of a healthy adult human brain and unveil cell-type specific features, and show that it provides a convenient and computational efficient approach for pre-processing single-cell ATAC-seq data.Keywords: single-cell, ATAC-seq, bioinformatics, open chromatin landscape, chromatin interactome
Procedia PDF Downloads 1553012 Corrosion Characterization of ZA-27 Metal Matrix Composites
Authors: H. V. Jayaprakash, P. V. Krupakara
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This paper deals with the high corrosion resistance developed by the metal matrix composites when compared with that of matrix alloy by open circuit potential test. Matrix selected is ZA-27 and reinforcement selected is red mud particulates, which is a ceramic material. The composites are prepared using liquid melt metallurgy technique using vortex method. Preheated but uncoated red mud particulates are added to the melt. Metal matrix composites containing 2, 4 and 6 weight percentage of red mud are casted. Matrix was also casted in the same way for comparison. Specimen are fabricated according to ASTM standards. The corrodents used for the tests were 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 molar sodium hydroxide solutions. They are subjected to Open Circuit Potential studies and weight loss corrosion tests. Corrosion rate was found to be decreased with increase in exposure time in both experiments. Effect of exposure time and presence of increased percentage of reinforcement red mud is discussed in detail.Keywords: composites, vortex, particulates, red mud
Procedia PDF Downloads 4493011 Open Channel Flow Measurement of Water by Using Width Contraction
Authors: Arun Goel, D. V. S. Verma, Sanjeev Sangwan
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The present study was aimed to develop a discharge measuring device for irrigation and laboratory channels. Experiments were conducted on a sharp edged constricted flow meters having four types of width constrictions namely 2:1, 1.5:1, 1:1, and 90o in the direction of flow. These devices were made of MS sheets and installed separately in a rectangular flume. All these four devices were tested under free and submerged flow conditions. Eight different discharges varying from 2 lit/sec to 30 lit/sec were passed through each device. In total around 500 observations of upstream and downstream depths were taken in the present work. For each discharge, free submerged and critical submergence under different flow conditions were noted and plotted. Once the upstream and downstream depths of flow over any of the device are known, the discharge can be easily calculated with the help of the curves developed for free and submerged flow conditions. The device having contraction 2:1 is the most efficient one as it allows maximum critical submergence.Keywords: flowrate, flowmeter, open channels, submergence
Procedia PDF Downloads 4323010 Comparison of Quality of Life One Year after Bariatric Intervention: Systematic Review of the Literature with Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis
Authors: Piotr Tylec, Alicja Dudek, Grzegorz Torbicz, Magdalena Mizera, Natalia Gajewska, Michael Su, Tanawat Vongsurbchart, Tomasz Stefura, Magdalena Pisarska, Mateusz Rubinkiewicz, Piotr Malczak, Piotr Major, Michal Pedziwiatr
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Introduction: Quality of life after bariatric surgery is an important factor when evaluating the final result of the treatment. Considering the vast surgical options, we tried to globally compare available methods in terms of quality of following the surgery. The aim of the study is to compare the quality of life a year after bariatric intervention using network meta-analysis methods. Material and Methods: We performed a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines with Bayesian network meta-analysis. Inclusion criteria were: studies comparing at least two methods of weight loss treatment of which at least one is surgical, assessment of the quality of life one year after surgery by validated questionnaires. Primary outcomes were quality of life one year after bariatric procedure. The following aspects of quality of life were analyzed: physical, emotional, general health, vitality, role physical, social, mental, and bodily pain. All questionnaires were standardized and pooled to a single scale. Lifestyle intervention was considered as a referenced point. Results: An initial reference search yielded 5636 articles. 18 studies were evaluated. In comparison of total score of quality of life, we observed that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) (median (M): 3.606, Credible Interval 97.5% (CrI): 1.039; 6.191), laparoscopic Roux en-Y gastric by-pass (LRYGB) (M: 4.973, CrI: 2.627; 7.317) and open Roux en-Y gastric by-pass (RYGB) (M: 9.735, CrI: 6.708; 12.760) had better results than other bariatric intervention in relation to lifestyle interventions. In the analysis of the physical aspects of quality of life, we notice better results in LSG (M: 3.348, CrI: 0.548; 6.147) and in LRYGB procedure (M: 5.070, CrI: 2.896; 7.208) than control intervention, and worst results in open RYGB (M: -9.212, CrI: -11.610; -6.844). Analyzing emotional aspects, we found better results than control intervention in LSG, in LRYGB, in open RYGB, and laparoscopic gastric plication. In general health better results were in LSG (M: 9.144, CrI: 4.704; 13.470), in LRYGB (M: 6.451, CrI: 10.240; 13.830) and in single-anastomosis gastric by-pass (M: 8.671, CrI: 1.986; 15.310), and worst results in open RYGB (M: -4.048, CrI: -7.984; -0.305). In social and vital aspects of quality of life, better results were observed in LSG and LRYGB than control intervention. We did not find any differences between bariatric interventions in physical role, mental and bodily aspects of quality of life. Conclusion: The network meta-analysis revealed that better quality of life in total score one year after bariatric interventions were after LSG, LRYGB, open RYGB. In physical and general health aspects worst quality of life was in open RYGB procedure. Other interventions did not significantly affect the quality of life after a year compared to dietary intervention.Keywords: bariatric surgery, network meta-analysis, quality of life, one year follow-up
Procedia PDF Downloads 1593009 A Fundamental Study on the Anchor Performance of Non-Surface Treated Multi CFRP Tendons
Authors: Woo-tai Jung, Jong-sup Park, Jae-yoon Kang, Moon-seoung Keum
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CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) is mainly used as reinforcing material for degraded structures owing to its advantages including its non-corrodibility, high strength, and lightweight properties. Recently, dedicated studies focused not only on its simple bonding but also on its tensioning. The tension necessary for prestressing requires the anchoring of multi-CFRP tendons with high capacity and the surface treatment of the CFRP tendons may also constitute an important issue according to the type of anchor. The wedge type, swage type or bonded type anchor can be used to anchor the CFRP tendon. The bonded type anchor presents the disadvantage to lengthen the length of the anchor due to the low bond strength of the CFRP tendon without surface treatment. This study intends to overcome this drawback through the application of a method enlarging the bond area at the end of the CFRP tendon. This method enlarges the bond area by splitting the end of the CFRP tendon along its length and can be applied when CFRP is produced by pultrusion. The application of this method shows that the mono-CFRP tendon and 3-multi CFRP tendon secured the anchor performance corresponding to the tensile performance of the CFRP tendon and that the 7-multi tendon secured anchor performance corresponding to 90% of the tensile strength due to the occurrence of buckling in the steel tube anchorage.Keywords: carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), tendon, anchor, tensile property, bond strength
Procedia PDF Downloads 2473008 Assessment of Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Water Management
Authors: Suraj Sharma
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Green infrastructure (GI) offers a contemporary approach for reducing the risk of flooding, improve water quality, and harvesting stormwater for sustainable use. GI promotes landscape planning to enhance sustainable development and urban resilience. However, the existing literature is lacking in ensuring the comprehensive assessment of GI performance in terms of ecosystem function and services for social, ecological, and economical system resilience. We propose a robust indicator set and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) for quantitative and qualitative analysis for sustainable water management to assess the capacity of urban resilience. Green infrastructure in urban resilience water management system (GIUR-WMS) supports decision-making for GI planning through scenario comparisons with urban resilience capacity index. To demonstrate the GIUR-WMS, we develop five scenarios for five sectors of Chandigarh (12, 26, 14, 17, and 34) to test common type of GI (rain barrel, rain gardens, detention basins, porous pavements, and open spaces). The result shows the open spaces achieve the highest green infrastructure urban resilience index of 4.22/5. To implement the open space scenario in urban sites, suitable vacant can be converted to green spaces (example: forest, low impact recreation areas, and detention basins) GIUR-WMS is easy to replicate, customize and apply to cities of different sizes to assess environmental, social and ecological dimensions.Keywords: green infrastructure, assessment, urban resilience, water management system, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation
Procedia PDF Downloads 1433007 A Review of End-of-Term Oral Tests for English-Majored Students of HCMC Open University
Authors: Khoa K. Doan
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Assessment plays an essential role in teaching and learning English as it aims to measure the learning outcomes. Designing appropriate test types and procedures for four skills, especially productive skills, is a very challenging task for teachers of English. The assessment scheme is supposed to provide precise measures and fair opportunities for students to demonstrate what they can do with their language skills. This involves content domains, measurement techniques, administrative feasibility, target populations, and potential sources of testing bias. Based on these elements, a review of end-of-term speaking tests for English-majored students at Ho Chi Minh City Open University (Viet Nam) was undertaken for the purpose of analyzing the strengths and limitations of the testing tool for the speaking assessment. It helped to identify what could be done to facilitate the process of teaching and learning in that context.Keywords: assessment, oral tests, speaking, testing
Procedia PDF Downloads 3203006 On Boundary Values of Hardy Space Banach Space-Valued Functions
Authors: Irina Peterburgsky
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Let T be a unit circumference of a complex plane, E be a Banach space, E* and E** be its conjugate and second conjugate, respectively. In general, a Hardy space Hp(E), p ≥1, where functions act from the open unit disk to E, could contain a function for which even weak nontangential (angular) boundary value in the space E** does not exist at any point of the unit circumference T (C. Grossetete.) The situation is "better" when certain restrictions to the Banach space of values are applied (more or less resembling a classical case of scalar-valued functions depending on constrains, as shown by R. Ryan.) This paper shows that, nevertheless, in the case of a Banach space of a general type, the following positive statement is true: Proposition. For any function f(z) from Hp(E), p ≥ 1, there exists a function F(eiθ) on the unit circumference T to E** whose Poisson (in the Pettis sense) is integral regains the function f(z) on the open unit disk. Some characteristics of the function F(eiθ) are demonstrated.Keywords: hardy spaces, Banach space-valued function, boundary values, Pettis integral
Procedia PDF Downloads 2493005 Effects of EMS on Foot Drop Associated with Grade III Wound: A Case Report
Authors: Mirza Obaid Baig, MaimoonaYaqub
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A 51 year old lady; known case of diabetes mellitus, post wound debridement i.e. 4 open wounds of grade III presented to us with foot drop, with prominent sensory deficit over right lower leg/foot i.e. 0 on Nottingham scale for impaired sensation, marked pedal edema and 5/10 – 6/10 pain on VAS during day and night respectively, Wounds were poorly granulated and foul smelling. Physiotherapy sessions were planned including twice a day electrical muscle stimulation sessions, strategies to decrease edema and improve muscle action which resulted in noticeable improvement in motor and sensory ability, pain levels, edema and psychological status of patient. Thus, this study gives evidence of the effect of Electrical muscle stimulation in grade III open wounds associated with motor/sensory weakness post-surgery.Keywords: EMS, foot drop, grade III wound, diabetes mellitus
Procedia PDF Downloads 4163004 Comparisons of Surveying with Terrestrial Laser Scanner and Total Station for Volume Determination of Overburden and Coal Excavations in Large Open-Pit Mine
Authors: B. Keawaram, P. Dumrongchai
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The volume of overburden and coal excavations in open-pit mine is generally determined by conventional survey such as total station. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) used to measure overburden and coal excavations, and to compare TLS survey data sets with the data of the total station. Results revealed that, the reference points measured with the total station showed 0.2 mm precision for both horizontal and vertical coordinates. When using TLS on the same points, the standard deviations of 4.93 cm and 0.53 cm for horizontal and vertical coordinates, respectively, were achieved. For volume measurements covering the mining areas of 79,844 m2, TLS yielded the mean difference of about 1% and the surface error margin of 6 cm at the 95% confidence level when compared to the volume obtained by total station.Keywords: mine, survey, terrestrial laser scanner, total station
Procedia PDF Downloads 3853003 Effects of Clozapine and Risperidone Antipsychotic Drugs on the Expression of CACNA1C and Behavioral Changes in Rat ‘Ketamine Model of Schizophrenia
Authors: Mehrnoosh Azimi Sanavi, Hamed Ghazvini, Mehryar Zargari, Hossein Ghalehnoei, Zahra Hosseini-khah
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Objectives: Calcium Voltage-Gated Channel Subunit Alpha1 C (CACNA1C) is one of the most important genes associated with schizophrenia. Methods: 45 male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: saline, control, ketamine, clozapine, and risperidone. Animals in ketamine, risperidone, and clozapine groups received ketamine (30 mg/ kg-i.p.) for 10 days. After the last injection of ketamine, we started injecting clozapine (7.5 mg/kg-i.p.) risperidone (1 mg/kg-i.p.) for up to 28 days. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, open field, social interaction, and elevated plus-maze tests, and gene expression in the hippocampus were performed. Results: The results of the social interaction test revealed a significant decrease in cumulative time with ketamine compared with the saline group and an increase with clozapine and risperidone compared with the ketamine group. Moreover, results from the elevated plus-maze test demonstrated a critical decrease in open-arm time and an increase in close-arm time with ketamine compared with saline, as well as an increase in open-arm time with risperidone compared with ketamine. Further results revealed a significant increase in rearing and grooming with ketamine compared to saline, as well as a decrease with risperidone and clozapine compared to ketamine. There were no significant differences in CACNA1C gene expression between groups in the rat hippocampus. In brief, the results of this study indicated that clozapine and risperidone could partially improve cognitive impairments in the rat. However, our findings demonstrated that this treatment is not related to CACNA1C gene expression.Keywords: schizophrenia, ketamine, clozapine, risperidone
Procedia PDF Downloads 633002 Hydroponic Cultivation Enhances the Morpho-Physiological Traits and Quality Flower Production in Tagetes patula L
Authors: Ujala, Diksha Sharma, Mahinder Partap, Ashish R. Warghat, Bhavya Bhargava
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In soil-less agriculture, hydroponic is considered a potential farming system for the production of uniform quality plant material in significantly less time. Therefore, for the first time, the current investigation corroborates the effect of different cultivation conditions (open-field, poly-house, and hydroponic) on morpho-physiological traits, phenolic content, and essential oil components analysis in three flower color variants (yellow, scarlet red, and orange) of Tagetes patula. The results revealed that the maximum plant height, number of secondary branches, number of flowers, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate were observed under the hydroponic system as compared to other conditions. However, the maximum content of gallic acid (0.82 mg/g DW), syringic acid (3.98 mg/g DW), epicatechin (0.48 mg/g DW), p-coumaric acid (7.28 mg/g DW), protocatechuic acid (0.59 mg/g DW), ferulic acid (2.58 mg/g DW), and luteolin (8.24 mg/g DW) were quantified maximally under open-field conditions. However, under hydroponic conditions, the higher content of vanillic acid (0.43 mg/g DW), caffeic acid (0.49 mg/g DW), and quercetin (0.92 mg/g DW) were quantified. Moreover, a total of nineteen volatile components were identified in the essential oil of different flower color variants of T. patula cultivated under different conditions. The major reported volatile components in essential oil were (-)-caryophyllene oxide, trans-β-caryophyllene, trans-geraniol, 3 methyl-benzyl alcohol, and 2,2’:5’,2”-terthiophene. It has also been observed that the volatile component percentage range in all variants was observed in open-field (70.85 % to 90.54 %), poly-house (59.03 % to 77.93 %), and hydroponic (68.78 % to 89.41 %). In conclusion, the research highlighted that morpho-physiological performance with flower production was enhanced in the hydroponic system. However, phenolic content and volatile components were maximally observed in open-field conditions. However, significant results have been reported under hydroponic conditions in all studied parameters, so it could be a potential strategy for quality biomass production in T. patula.Keywords: Tagetes patula, cultivation conditions, hydroponic, morpho-physiology
Procedia PDF Downloads 743001 Pattern of External Injuries Sustained during Bomb Blast Attacks in Karachi, Pakistan from 2000 to 2007
Authors: Arif Anwar Surani, Salman Ali, Asif Surani, Sohaib Zahid, Akbar Shoukat Ali, Zeeshan-Ul-Hassan Usmani, Joseph Varon, Salim Surani
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Objective: Terrorism and suicidal bomb blast attacks are commonplace in Karachi, Pakistan. During the years 2000 to 2007, there were over 60 bomb explosions resulting in more than 1500 casualties. These explosions produce a wide variety of external injuries. We undertook this study to evaluate pattern of external injury produced after bomb blast attacks and to compare injury profile resulting from explosions in open versus semi-confined blast environments. Method: A retrospective, cross-sectional, study was conducted to review injuries sustained after bomb blast attacks in Karachi, Pakistan, from January 2000 to October 2007. Emergency medical records and medico legal certificates of patients presented to three major public sector hospitals of Karachi were evaluated using self-design proforma. Results: Data of 481 victims meet inclusion criteria and were incorporated for final analysis. Of these, 63.6% were injured in open spaces and 36.4% were injured in semi-confined blast environments. Lacerations were commonly encountered as external injury (47.7%) followed by penetrating wounds (15.3%). Lower and upper extremities were most commonly affected (38.6% and 19% respectively). Open and semi-confined blast environments produced a specific injury pattern and profile (p=<0.001). Conclusions: Bomb blast attacks in Karachi produce an external injury pattern consistent with other studies, with exception of an increased frequency in penetrating wounds. Semi-confined blast environments were associated with severe injuries. Further studies are required to better classify injuries and their severity based on standardized scoring systems. Effective emergency response systems must be designed to cope with mass causalities following bomb explosions.Keywords: bomb blast attacks, injury pattern, external injury, open space, semi-confined space, blast environment
Procedia PDF Downloads 3973000 Effects of Magnetic Field Strength on Fluid Flow Behavior in a Constricted Channel
Authors: Ashkan Javadzadegan, Aitak Javadzadegan, Babak Fakhim
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One of possible ways to retard movement of fluid is through applying an external magnetic field. In this regard, this study is focused on the effect of a uniform transverse magnetic field on fluid flow behavior inside a channel with a local symmetric constriction. Also, Ellis Non-Newtonian model is implemented to address the effects of shear-dependent viscosity. According to the results, the flow separation downstream of the constriction can be controlled by applying an external magnetic field and/or manipulating the shear-thinning degree of fluid. It is also demonstrated that pressure drop increases by an increase in the strength of the magnetic field.Keywords: magnetic field, non-Newtonian, separation, shear thinning
Procedia PDF Downloads 4332999 Pre-Service Teacher Education Reforms in India and Pakistan: Challenges and Possibilities
Authors: Jyoti Sharma
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India and Pakistan are two strategically important neighboring countries in Asia-Pacific region. Since independence of more than six decades, both, India and Pakistan have transverse different paths, India as a Sovereign, Democratic, Republic Country and Pakistan as Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The advent of democracy in India and Islamic republic in Pakistan resulted in new hopes, aspirations and demands on education. During the six decades after Independence, teacher education in both countries has come a long way from its initial bleak stature to gain an identity as a complex network of institutions and programs. The present paper takes a close look into the paradigm shift in teacher education programs in India and Pakistan and how much the shift is influenced by constitutional frameworks of each country.Keywords: pre-service teachers, teacher education reforms, India, Pakistan
Procedia PDF Downloads 7242998 Experimental and Numerical Processes of Open Die Forging of Multimetallic Materials with the Usage of Different Lubricants
Authors: Isik Cetintav, Cenk Misirli, Yilmaz Can, Damla Gunel
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This work investigates experimental and numerical analysis of open die forging of multimetallic materials. Multimetallic material production has recently become an interesting research field. The mechanical properties of the materials to be used for the formation of multimetallic materials and the mechanical properties of the multimetallic materials produced will be compared and the material flows of the use of different lubricants will be examined. Furthermore, in this work, the mechanical properties of multimetallic metallic materials produced using different materials will be examined by using different lubricants. The advantages and disadvantages of different lubricants will be approached with the bi-metallic material to be produced. Cylindrical specimens consisting of two different materials were used in the experiments. Specimens were prepared as aluminum sleeve and copper core and upset at different reduction. This metal combination present a material model of which chemical composition is different. ABAQUS software was used for the simulations. Simulation and experimental results have also shown reasonable agreement.Keywords: multimetallic, forging, experimental, numerical
Procedia PDF Downloads 2782997 Open Fields' Dosimetric Verification for a Commercially-Used 3D Treatment Planning System
Authors: Nashaat A. Deiab, Aida Radwan, Mohamed Elnagdy, Mohamed S. Yahiya, Rasha Moustafa
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This study is to evaluate and investigate the dosimetric performance of our institution's 3D treatment planning system, Elekta PrecisePLAN, for open 6MV fields including square, rectangular, variation in SSD, centrally blocked, missing tissue, square MLC and MLC shaped fields guided by the recommended QA tests prescribed in AAPM TG53, NCS report 15 test packages, IAEA TRS 430 and ESTRO booklet no.7. The study was performed for Elekta Precise linear accelerator designed for clinical range of 4, 6 and 15 MV photon beams with asymmetric jaws and fully integrated multileaf collimator that enables high conformance to target with sharp field edges. Seven different tests were done applied on solid water equivalent phantom along with 2D array dose detection system, the calculated doses using 3D treatment planning system PrecisePLAN, compared with measured doses to make sure that the dose calculations are accurate for open fields including square, rectangular, variation in SSD, centrally blocked, missing tissue, square MLC and MLC shaped fields. The QA results showed dosimetric accuracy of the TPS for open fields within the specified tolerance limits. However large square (25cm x 25cm) and rectangular fields (20cm x 5cm) some points were out of tolerance in penumbra region (11.38 % and 10.9 %, respectively). For the test of SSD variation, the large field resulted from SSD 125 cm for 10cm x 10cm filed the results recorded an error of 0.2% at the central axis and 1.01% in penumbra. The results yielded differences within the accepted tolerance level as recommended. Large fields showed variations in penumbra. These differences between dose values predicted by the TPS and the measured values at the same point may result from limitations of the dose calculation, uncertainties in the measurement procedure, or fluctuations in the output of the accelerator.Keywords: quality assurance, dose calculation, 3D treatment planning system, photon beam
Procedia PDF Downloads 5172996 Antistress Effects of Hydrangeae Dulcis Folium on Net Handing Stress-Induced Anxiety-Like Behavior in Zebrafish: Possible Mechanism of Action of Adrenocorticotropin Hormone (ACTH) Receptor
Authors: Lee Seungheon, Kim Ba-Ro
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In this study, the anti-stress effects of the ethanolic extract of Hydrangeae Dulcis Folium (EHDF) were investigated. To determine the effects of EHDF on physical stress, changes in the whole-body cortisol level and behaviour were monitored in zebrafish. To induce physical stress, we used the net handling stress (NHS). Fish were treated with EHDF for 6 min before they were exposed to stress, and the fish were either evaluated via behavioural tests, including a novel tank test and an open field test or sacrificed to collect body fluid from the whole body. The results indicate that increased anxiety-like behaviours in the novel tank test and open field test under stress were recovered by treatment with EHDF at 5, 10 and 20 mg/L (P < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the normal group, which was not treated with NHS, the whole-body cortisol level was significantly increased by treatment with NHS in the control group. Compared with the control group, pre-treatment with EHDF at concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mg/L for 6 min significantly prevented the increase in the whole-body cortisol level induced by NHS (P < 0.05). In addition, adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) challenge studies showed that EHDF completely blocked the effects of ACTH (0.2 IU/g, IP) on cortisol secretion. These results suggest that EHDF may be a good anti-stress candidate and that its mechanism of action may be related to its positive effects on cortisol release.Keywords: net handling stress, zebrafish, hydrangeae dulcis folium, whole-body cortisol, novel tank test, open field test
Procedia PDF Downloads 2992995 Numerical Study of Natural Convection in Isothermal Open Cavities
Authors: Gaurav Prabhudesai, Gaetan Brill
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The sun's energy source comes from a hydrogen-to-helium thermonuclear reaction, generating a temperature of about 5760 K on its outer layer. On account of this high temperature, energy is radiated by the sun, a part of which reaches the earth. This sunlight, even after losing part of its energy en-route to scattering and absorption, provides a time and space averaged solar flux of 174.7 W/m^2 striking the earth’s surface. According to one study, the solar energy striking earth’s surface in one and a half hour is more than the energy consumption that was recorded in the year 2001 from all sources combined. Thus, technology for extraction of solar energy holds much promise for solving energy crisis. Of the many technologies developed in this regard, Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants with central solar tower and receiver system are very impressive because of their capability to provide a renewable energy that can be stored in the form of heat. One design of central receiver towers is an open cavity where sunlight is concentrated into by using mirrors (also called heliostats). This concentrated solar flux produces high temperature inside the cavity which can be utilized in an energy conversion process. The amount of energy captured is reduced by losses occurring at the cavity through all three modes viz., radiation to the atmosphere, conduction to the adjoining structure and convection. This study investigates the natural convection losses to the environment from the receiver. Computational fluid dynamics were used to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer of the receiver; since no analytical solution can be obtained and no empirical correlations exist for the given geometry. The results provide guide lines for predicting natural convection losses for hexagonal and circular shaped open cavities. Additionally, correlations are given for various inclination angles and aspect ratios. These results provide methods to minimize natural convection through careful design of receiver geometry and modification of the inclination angle, and aspect ratio of the cavity.Keywords: concentrated solar power (CSP), central receivers, natural convection, CFD, open cavities
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