Search results for: long term potenciations

Authors: Achouri Fatima, Chouicha Kaddour

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The main parameters affecting the workability are the water content, particle size, and the total surface of the grains, as long as the mixing water begins by wetting the surface of the grains and then fills the voids between the grains to form entrapped water, the quantity of water remaining is called free water. The aim is to undertake a fractal approach through the relationship between the concrete formulation parameters and workability, to develop this approach a series of concrete taken from the literature was investigated by varying formulation parameters such as G / S, the quantity of cement C and the quantity of mixing water E. We also call on other model as the model for the thickness of the water layer and model of the thickness of the paste layer to judge their relevance, hence the following results : the relevance of the model of the thickness of the water layer is considered relevant when there is a variation in the water quantity, the model of the thickness of the layer of the paste is only applicable if we consider that the paste is made with the grain value Dmax = 2.85: value from which we see a stable model.

Keywords: concrete, fractal method, paste thickness, water thickness, workability

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Authors: Gylych Jelilov

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This paper investigates the effect of foreign debt on economic growth. Example has been chosen from Africa, Nigeria. By conducting cointegration test we have tested for a long-run relationship between. GDP = Real gross domestic product, EXTDEBT = External debt, INT = Interest rate, CAB = Current account balance, and EXCHR = Real exchange rate over the period 1990 to 2012. It was found out by the study that there is a negative but insignificant relationship between external debt and real gross domestic product. While a positive relationship exists between external debt and economic growth. Also, showed a negative and significant relationship between interest rate and real gross domestic product and there was a positive but insignificant relationship between current account balance and real gross domestic product.

Keywords: economic growth, foreign debt, Nigeria, sustainable development, economic stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Marek Halenár, Eva Tvrdá, Tomáš Slanina, Ľubomír Ondruška, Eduard Kolesár, Peter Massányi, Adriana Kolesárová

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The present in vitro study was designed to reveal whether amygdalin (AMG) is able to cause changes to the motility, viability and mitochondrial activity of rabbit spermatozoa. New Zealand White rabbits (n = 10) aged four months were used in the study. Semen samples were collected from each animal and used for the in vitro incubation. The samples were divided into five equal parts and diluted with saline supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, 2.5 and 5 mg/mL AMG. At times 0h, 3h and 5h spermatozoa motion parameters were assessed using the SpermVision™ computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) system, cell viability was examined with the metabolic activity (MTT) assay, and the eosin-nigrosin staining technique was used to evaluate the viability of rabbit spermatozoa. All AMG concentrations exhibited stimulating effects on the spermatozoa activity, as shown by a significant preservation of the motility (P<0.05 with respect to 0.5 mg/mL and 1 mg/mL AMG; Time 5 h) and mitochondrial activity (P< 0.05 in case of 0.5 mg/mL AMG; P< 0.01 in case of 1 mg/mL AMG; P < 0.001 with respect to 2.5 mg/mL and 5 mg/mL AMG; Time 5 h). None of the AMG doses supplemented had any significant impact of the spermatozoa viability. In conclusion, the data revealed that short-term co-incubation of spermatozoa with AMG may result in a higher preservation of the sperm structural integrity and functional activity.

Keywords: amygdalin, CASA, mitochondrial activity, motility, rabbits, spermatozoa, viability

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Authors: S. Dalvi, N. Sane, V. Patil, D. Bansode, A. Tharakan, V. Mathur

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Measurement of routine clinical electrolyte tests is common in labs worldwide for screening of illness or diseases. All the analyzers for the measurement of electrolyte parameters have sensors, reagents, sampler, pump tubing, valve, other tubing’s separate that are either expensive, require heavy maintenance and have a short shelf-life. Moreover, the costs required to maintain such Lab instrumentation is high and this limits the use of the device to only highly specialized personnel and sophisticated labs. In order to provide Healthcare Diagnostics to ALL at affordable costs, there is a need for an All-in-one Universal Modular Cartridge that contains sensors, reagents, sampler, valve, pump tubing, and other tubing’s in one single integrated module-in-module cartridge that is affordable, reliable, easy-to-use, requires very low sample volume and is truly modular and maintenance-free. DiaSys India has developed a World’s first, Patent Pending, Versatile All-in-one Universal Module-in-Module Cartridge based Electrolyte Analyzer (QDx InstaLyte) that can perform sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, pH, lithium tests. QDx InstaLyte incorporates High Performance, Inexpensive All-in-one Universal Cartridge for rapid quantitative measurement of electrolytes in body fluids. Our proposed methodology utilizes Advanced & Improved long life ISE sensors to provide a sensitive and accurate result in 120 sec with just 100 µl of sample volume. The All-in-One Universal Cartridge has a very low reagent consumption capable of maximum of 1000 tests with a Use-life of 3-4 months and a long Shelf life of 12-18 months at 4-25°C making it very cost-effective. Methods: QDx InstaLyte analyzers with All-in-one Universal Modular Cartridges were independently evaluated with three R&D lots for Method Performance (Linearity, Precision, Method Comparison, Cartridge Stability) to measure Sodium, Potassium, Chloride. Method Comparison was done against Medica EasyLyte Plus Na/K/Cl Electrolyte Analyzer, a mid-size lab based clinical chemistry analyzer with N = 100 samples run over 10 days. Within-run precision study was done using modified CLSI guidelines with N = 20 samples and day-to-day precision study was done for 7 consecutive days using Trulab N & P Quality Control Samples. Accelerated stability testing was done at 45oC for 4 weeks with Production Lots. Results: Data analysis indicates that the CV for within-run precision for Na is ≤ 1%, for K is ≤2%, and for Cl is ≤2% and with R2 ≥ 0.95 for Method Comparison. Further, the All-in-One Universal Cartridge is stable up to 12-18 months at 4-25oC storage temperature based on preliminary extrapolated data. Conclusion: The Developed Technology Platform of All-in-One Universal Module-in-Module Cartridge based QDx InstaLyte is Reliable and meets all the performance specifications of the lab and is Truly Modular and Maintenance-Free. Hence, it can be easily adapted for low cost, sensitive and rapid measurement of electrolyte tests in low resource settings such as in urban, semi-urban and rural areas in the developing countries and can be used as a Point-of-care testing system for worldwide applications.

Keywords: all-in-one modular catridge, electrolytes, maintenance free, QDx instalyte

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Authors: Methawee Yuttapongtada

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Intensifier is the linguistic term and device that is generally found in different languages in order to enhance and give additional quantity, quality or emotion to the words of each language. In fact, each language in the world has both of the similar and dissimilar intensifying device. More specially, the wide variety of intensifying device is used for Thai language and one of those is usage of the impolite word or the word that used to mean something negative as intensifier. The data collection in this study was done throughout the spoken language style by collecting from intensifiers regarded as impolite words because these words as employed in the other contexts will be held as the rude, swear words or the words with negative meaning. Then, backward study to the past was done in order to consider the historical change. Explanation of the original meaning and the contexts of words use from the past till the present time were done by use of both textual documents and dictionaries available in different periods. It was found that regarding the semantics and pragmatic aspects, subjectification also is the significant motivation that changed the impolite words to intensifiers. At last, it can explain pathway of the semantic change of these very words undoubtedly. Moreover, it is found that use tendency in the impolite word or the word that used to mean something negative will more be increased and this phenomenon is commonly found in many languages in the world and results of this research may support to the belief that human language in the world is universal and the same still reflected that human has the fundamental thought as the same to each other basically.

Keywords: impolite word, intensifier, Thai, semantic change

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Authors: Andrii Natochii

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We are currently presenting the recent results from the CERN accelerator facilities obtained in the frame of the UA9 Collaboration. The UA9 experiment investigates how a tiny silicon bent crystal (few millimeters long) can be used for various high-energy physics applications. Due to the huge electrostatic field (tens of GV/cm) between crystalline planes, there is a probability for charged particles, impinging the crystal, to be trapped in the channeling regime. It gives a possibility to steer a high intensity and momentum beam by bending the crystal: channeled particles will follow the crystal curvature and deflect on the certain angle (from tens microradians for LHC to few milliradians for SPS energy ranges). The measurements at SPS, performed in 2017 and 2018, confirmed that the protons deflected by the first crystal, inserted in the primary beam halo, can be caught and channeled by the second crystal. In this configuration, we measure the single pass deflection efficiency of the second crystal and prove our opportunity to perform the fixed target experiment at SPS accelerator (LHC in the future).

Keywords: channeling, double-crystal setup, fixed target experiment, Timepix detector

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Mahit T. Anand

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The modern Olympic Games present an unparalleled platform for companies to gain worldwide visibility. The increasing popularity of such an event supplemented by large sums of money paid by sponsors for the privilege of being associated with the Olympic Games has spawned its own particular brand of unfair competition, called ‘ambush marketing’. This research examines the practice of ambush marketing which has long been troubling the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) and its corporate sponsors. It emphasizes on implementing stringent legislative reforms by the host nations and to carry out effective ‘Brand Protection Programs’ for the upcoming Winter Olympics due to begin in February 2014 at Sochi, Russia and the Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. The research is carried out in the backdrop of out-standing legislative enactments made by the previous host nations and effective ‘Brand Protection Program’ formulated by their respective organizing committees.

Keywords: ambush marketing, international olympic committee (IOC), official sponsors, trademark

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Authors: Badiossadat Hassanpour, Reza Sirjani, Nangkuala Utaberta

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The avant-garde educational systems are striving to find a life long learning methods. Different fields and majors have test variety of proposed models, and found their difficulties and strengths. Architecture as a critical stage of education due to its characteristics which are learning by doing and critique based education and evaluation is out of this study procedure. Learning contracts is a new alternative form of evaluation of students’ achievements, while it acts as agreement about learning goals. Obtained results from studies in different fields which confirm its positive impact on students' learning in those fields and positively affected students' motivation and confidence in meeting their own learning needs, prompted us to implement this model in architecture design studio. In this implemented contract to the studio, students were asked to use the existing possibility of contract to have self assessment and examine their professional development to identify whether they are deficient or they would like to develop more expertise. The evidences of this research as well indicate that students feel positive about the learning contract and see it accommodating their individual learning needs.

Keywords: contract (LC), architecture design studio, education, student-centered learning

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Authors: Resul Fikir

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) become indispensable parts of modern air power as force multiplier. One of the main advantages of UAS is long endurance. UAS have to take extra payloads to accomplish different missions but these payloads decrease endurance of aircraft because of increasing drag. There are continuing researches to increase the capability of UAS. There are some vertical thermal air currents, which can cause climb and increase endurance, in nature. Birds and gliders use thermals to gain altitude with no effort. UAS have wide wing which can use of thermals like birds and gliders. Thermal regions, which is area of 2000-3000 meter (1 NM), exist all around the world. It is free and clean source. This study analyses if thermal regions can be adopted and implemented as an assistant tool for UAS route planning. First and second part of study will contain information about the thermal regions and current applications about UAS in aviation and climbing performance with a real example. Continuing parts will analyze the contribution of thermal regions to UAS endurance. Contribution is important because planning declaration of UAS navigation rules will be in 2015.

Keywords: airways, thermals, UAS, UAS roadmap

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Authors: S. Bualert, K. Duangmal

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Atmospheric boundary layer shows effects of land cover on atmospheric characteristic in term of temperature gradient and wind profile. They are key factors to control atmospheric process such as atmospheric dilution and mixing via thermal and mechanical turbulent. Bangkok, ChiangMai, and Hatyai are major cities of central, southern and northern of Thailand, respectively. The different of them are location, geography and size of the city, Bangkok is the most urbanized city and classified as mega city compared to ChiangMai and HatYai, respectively. They have been suffering from air pollution episode such as transboundary haze. The worst period of the northern part of Thailand was occurred at the end of February through April of each year. The particulate matter less than 10 micrometer (PM10) concentrations were higher than Thai’s ambient air quality standard (120 micrograms per cubic meter) more than two times. Radiosonde technique and air pollutant (CO, PM10, TSP, O3, NOx) measurements were used to identify characteristics of urban boundary layer and air pollutions problems in the cities. Furthermore, air pollutant profiles showed good relationship to characteristic’s urban boundary layer especially on daytime temperature inversion on 29 February 2009 caused two times higher than normal concentrations of CO and particulate matter.

Keywords: haze episode, micrometeorology, temperature inversion, urban boundary layer

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Mohamed Abouelresh, Subhajit Kumar, Lamidi Babalola, Septriandi Chan, Ali Al Musabeh A., Thadickal V. Joydas, Bruno Pulido

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Neom has a relatively long coastline on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, which is about 300 kilometres long, in addition to many naturally formed bays along the Red Sea coast. Undoubtedly, these coasts provide an excellent opportunity for tourism and other activities; however, these coastal areas host a wide range of salinity-dependent ecosystems that need to be protected. The main objective of the study was to identify the coastal features, including tidal flats and salt flats, along the NEOM coast. A base map of the study area generated from the satellite images contained the main landform features and, in particular, the boundaries of the inland and coastal sabkhas. A field survey was conducted to map and characterize the intertidal and sabkha landforms. The coastal and inner coastal areas of NEOM are mainly covered by the quaternary sediments, which include gravel sheets, terraces, raised reef limestone, evaporite successions, eolian dunes, and undifferentiated sand/gravel deposits (alluvium, alluvial outwash, wind-blown sand beach). There are different landforms that characterizes the NEOM coast, including rocky coast, tidal zone, and sabkha. Sabkha area ranges between a few to tens of square kilometers. Coastal sabkha extended across the shoreline of NEOM, specifically at Gayal and Sharma areas, while the continental sabkha only existed at Gayal Town. The inland Sabkha at Gayal is mainly composed of a thin (15-25 cm) evaporite crust composed of a dark brown, cavernous, rugged, pitted, colloidal salty sand layer with salt-tolerant vegetation. The inland Sabkha is considered a groundwater-driven sedimentary system as indicated by syndepositional intra-sediment capillary evaporites, which precipitate in both marine and continental salt flats. Gayal coastal Sabkha is made up of tidal inlets, tidal creeks, and lagoons followed in a landward direction with well-developed sabkha layers. The surface sediments of the coastal Sabkha are composed of unlithified calcareous, gypsiferous, coarse to medium sands, and silt with bioclastic fragments underlain by several organic-rich layers. The coastal flat is graded landward into widespread, flat vegetated Sabkhas dissected by tributaries of the fluvial system, which debouches to the Red Sea. The coast from Gayal to Magna through Ras El-Sheikh Humaid is continuously subjected to tidal flows, which create an intertidal depositional system. The intertidal flats at NEOM are extensive, nearly horizontal land forming a very dynamic system in which several physical, chemical, geomorphological, and biological processes are acting simultaneously. The current work provides a field-based identification of the coastal sabkha and intertidal sites at NEOM. However, the mutual interaction between tidal flows and sabkha development, particularly at Gayal, needs to be well understood through comprehensive field and lab analysis.

Keywords: coast, intertidal, deposition, sabkha

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Authors: Xuyang Song, Jun Yin

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The smart card has been an extremely universal tool in public transit. It collects a large amount of data on buses, urban railway transit, and ferries and provides possibilities for passenger profiling. This paper combines offline analysis of passenger profiling and real-time prediction to propose a method that can accurately predict the destination station in real-time when passengers tag on. Firstly, this article constructs a static database of user travel characteristics after identifying passenger travel patterns based on the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN). The dual travel passenger habits are identified: OD travel habits and D station travel habits. Then a rapid real-time prediction algorithm based on Transit Passenger Profiling is proposed, which can predict the destination of in-board passengers. This article combines offline learning with online prediction, providing a technical foundation for real-time passenger flow prediction, monitoring and simulation, and short-term passenger behavior and demand prediction. This technology facilitates the efficient and real-time acquisition of passengers' travel destinations and demand. The last, an actual case was simulated and demonstrated feasibility and efficiency.

Keywords: travel behavior, destination prediction, public transit, passenger profiling

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Authors: Yufei Peng, Zhen Qin, Jianbe Li, Jidong Long

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The thermal cathode is widely used in accelerators, FELs and kinds of vacuum electronics. However, emission nonuniformity exists due to surface profile, material distribution, temperature variation, crystal orientation, etc., which will cause intrinsic emittance growth, brightness decline, envelope size augment, device performance deterioration or even failure. To understand how emittance is manipulated by emission nonuniformity, an intrinsic emittance model consisting of contributions from macro and micro surface nonuniformity is developed analytically based on general thermal emission model at temperature limited regime according to a real 3mm cathode. The model shows relative emittance increased about 50% due to temperature variation, and less than 5% from several kinds of micro surface nonuniformity which is much smaller than other research. Otherwise, we also calculated emittance growth combining with Monte Carlo method and PIC simulation, experiments of emission uniformity and emittance measurement are going to be carried out separately.

Keywords: thermal cathode, electron emission fluctuation, intrinsic emittance, surface nonuniformity, cathode lifetime

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Authors: Semuel Unwakoly, Reinner Puppela, Maresthy Rumalean, Healthy Kainama

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Fish is a kind of food that contains many nutritions, one of those is the long chain of unsaturated fatty acids as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and essential amino acid in enough amount for the necessity of our body. Like pelagic fish that found in the sea of Maluku. This research was done to identify fatty acids and amino acids composition in Moonfish (M. maculata) using transesterification reaction steps and Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrophotometer (GC-MS) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The result showed that fatty acids composition in Moonfish (M. maculata) contained tridecanoic acid (2.84%); palmitoleic acid (2.65%); palmitic acid (35.24%); oleic acid (6.2%); stearic acid (14.20%); and 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (1.29%) and 12 amino acids composition that consist of 7 essential amino acids, were leucine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, methionine, lysine, and histidine, and also 5 non-essential amino acid, were tyrosine, glycine, alanine, glutamic acid, and arginine.Thus, these fishes can be used by the people to complete the necessity of essential fatty acid and amino acid.

Keywords: Moonfish (M. maculata), fatty acid, amino acid, GC-MS, HPLC

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Jin Gao, Jin Zhang, Xiaogang Li

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Outdoor exposure experiments were conducted in three extreme environments, namely the Chinese plateau mountain environment (Lhasa), the cold–temperate environment (Mohe), and the marine atmospheric environment (Wanning), to track a new long-life environment-friendly polyurethane coating. The relationship between apparent properties, namely gloss and microstructural changes, was analyzed, and the influence of typical climatic environment on the aging mechanism of polyurethane coatings was discussed. Results show that the UV radiation in the Lhasa area causes photoaging degradation, micropores are formed on the coating surface, and the powdering phenomenon is obvious. Photodegradation occurs in the Wanning area, and a hydrolysis reaction is observed. The hydrolysis reaction catalyzes the photoaging, the coating surface becomes yellow, and the powdering becomes serious. Photoaging is also present in the Mohe area, but it is mainly due to temperature changes that in turn change the internal stress of the coating. Microcracks and bumps form on the coating surface.

Keywords: aging, atmospheric environment, outdoor exposure, polyurethane coating

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Authors: Pinki Sharma, Himanshu Joshi

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Distillery spentwash contains high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), color, total dissolved solids (TDS) and other contaminants even after biological treatment. The effluent can’t be discharged as such in the surface water bodies or land without further treatment. Reverse osmosis (RO) treatment plants have been installed in many of the distilleries at tertiary level. But at most of the places these plants are not properly working due to high concentration of organic matter and other contaminants in biologically treated spentwash. To make the membrane treatment proven and reliable technology, proper pre-treatment is mandatory. In the present study, ultra-filtration (UF) as pre-treatment of RO at tertiary stage was performed. Operating parameters namely initial pH (pHo: 2–10), trans-membrane pressure (TMP: 4-20 bars) and temperature (T: 15- 43°C) used for conducting experiments with UF system. Experiments were optimized at different operating parameters in terms of COD, color, TDS and TOC removal by using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design. The results showed that removal of COD, color and TDS by 62%, 93.5% and 75.5%, with UF, respectively at optimized conditions with increased permeate flux from 17.5 l/m2/h (RO) to 38 l/m2/h (UF-RO). The performance of the RO system was greatly improved both in term of pollutant removal as well as water recovery.

Keywords: bio-digested distillery spentwash, reverse osmosis, response surface methodology, ultra-filtration

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Authors: Carly Nesvat, Dominic Jarrett, Colin Thomson, Wilma Coltart, Thelma Bowers, Jan Thomson

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Introduction: Within Scotland, the Same As You strategy committed to moving people with learning disabilities out of long-stay hospital accommodation into homes in the community. Much of the focus of this movement was on the placement of people within individual homes. In order to achieve this, potentially excessive supports were put in place which created dependence, and carried significant ongoing cost primarily for local authorities. The greater focus on empowerment and community participation which has been evident in more recent learning disability strategy, along with the financial pressures being experienced across the public sector, created an imperative to re-examine that provision, particularly in relation to the use of expensive sleepover supports to individuals, and the potential for this to be appropriately scaled back through the use of telecare. Method: As part of a broader programme of redesigning overnight supports within North Ayrshire, a cluster of individuals living in close proximity were identified, who were in receipt of overnight supports, but who were identified as having the capacity to potentially benefit from their removal. In their place, a responder service was established (an individual staying overnight in a nearby service user’s home), and a variety of telecare solutions were placed within individual’s homes. Active and passive technology was connected to an Alarm Receiving Centre, which would alert the local responder service when necessary. Individuals and their families were prepared for the change, and continued to be informed about progress with the pilot. Results: 4 individuals, 2 of whom shared a tenancy, had their sleepover supports removed as part of the pilot. Extensive data collection in relation to alarm activation was combined with feedback from the 4 individuals, their families, and staff involved in their support. Varying perspectives emerged within the feedback. 3 of the individuals were clearly described as benefitting from the change, and the greater sense of independence it brought, while more concerns were evident in relation to the fourth. Some family members expressed a need for greater preparation in relation to the change and ongoing information provision. Some support staff also expressed a need for more information, to help them understand the new support arrangements for an individual, as well as noting concerns in relation to the outcomes for one participant. Conclusion: Developing a telecare response in relation to a cluster of individuals was facilitated by them all being supported by the same care provider. The number of similar clusters of individuals being identified within North Ayrshire is limited. Developing other solutions such as a response service for redesign will potentially require greater collaboration between different providers of home support, as well as continuing to explore the full range of telecare, including digital options. The pilot has highlighted the need for effective preparatory and ongoing engagement with staff and families, as well as the challenges which can accompany making changes to long-standing packages of support.

Keywords: challenges, change, engagement, telecare

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Authors: Azadeh Safadoust, Ali Akbar Mahboubi

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A study was conducted to evaluate hydraulic properties of a sandy loam soil and corn (Zea mays L.) crop production under a short-term tillage and manure combinations field experiment carried out in west of Iran. Treatments included composted cattle manure application rates [0, 30, and 60 Mg (dry weight) ha-1] and tillage systems [no-tillage (NT), chisel plowing (CP), and moldboard plowing (MP)] arranged in a split-plot design. Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) were significantly affected by manure and tillage treatments. At any matric suction, the soil water content was in the order of MP>CP>NT. At all matric suctions, the amount of water retained by the soil increased as manure application rate increased (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). Similar to the tillage effects, at high suctions the differences of water retained due to manure addition were less than that at low suctions. The change of SWCC from tillage methods and manure applications may attribute to the change of pore size and aggregate size distributions. Soil Ks was in the order of CP>MP>NT for the first two layers and in the order of MP>CP and NT for the deeper soil layer. The Ks also increased with increasing rates of manure application (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). This was due to the increase in the total pore size and continuity.

Keywords: corn, manure, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water characteristic curve, tillage

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Authors: Phalaunnaphat Siriwongs

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The classroom of the 21st century is an ever-changing forum for new and innovative thoughts and ideas. With increasing technology and opportunity, students have rapid access to information that only decades ago would have taken weeks to obtain. Unfortunately, new techniques and technology are not a cure for the fundamental problems that have plagued the classroom ever since education was established. Class size has been an issue long debated in academia. While it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number, it is clear that in this case, more does not mean better. By looking into the success and pitfalls of classroom size, the true advantages of smaller classes becomes clear. Previously, one class was comprised of 50 students. Since they were seventeen- and eighteen-year-old students, it was sometimes quite difficult for them to stay focused. To help students understand and gain much knowledge, a researcher introduced “The Theory of Multiple Intelligence” and this, in fact, enabled students to learn according to their own learning preferences no matter how they were being taught. In this lesson, the researcher designed a cycle of learning activities involving all intelligences so that everyone had equal opportunities to learn.

Keywords: multiple intelligences, role play, performance assessment, formative assessment

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Authors: M. Srilatha, R. Hemalatha, T. Sri Aditya

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Communication of today world is dominated by wireless technology. This is mainly due to the revolutionary development of new wireless communication system generations. The evolving new generations of wireless systems are accommodating the demand through better resource management including improved transmission technologies with optimized communication devices. To keep up with the evolution of technologies, the communication systems must be designed to optimize transparent insertion of newly evolved technologies virtually at all stages of their life cycle. After the insertion of new technologies, the upgraded devices should continue the communication without squalor in quality. The concern of improving spectrum access and spectrum efficiency combined with both the introduction of Software Defined Radios (SDR) and the possibility of the software application to radios has led to an evolution of wireless radio research. The software defined radio term was coined in the 1970s to overcome the problems in the application of software to wireless radios which eliminates the requirement of hardware changes. SDR has become the prime theme of research since it eliminates the drawbacks associated with conventional wireless communication systems implementation. This paper identifies and discusses key enabling technologies and possibility of research and development in SDRs. In addition transmitter and receiver architectures of SDR are also discussed along with their feasibility for reconfigurable radio application.

Keywords: software defined radios, wireless communication, reconfigurable, reconfigurable transmitter, reconfigurable receivers, FPGA, DSP

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Safia Akram

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The influence of nanofluid with different waveforms in the presence of inclined asymmetric channel on peristaltic transport of a pseudoplastic fluid is examined. The governing equations for two-dimensional and two directional flows of a pseudoplastic fluid along with nanofluid are modeled and then simplified under the assumptions of long wavelength and low Reynolds number approximation. The exact solutions for temperature and nanoparticle volume fraction are calculated. Series solution of the stream function and pressure gradient are carried out using perturbation technique. The flow quantities have been examined for various physical parameters of interest. It was found, that the magnitude value of the velocity profile decreases with an increase in volume flow rate (Q) and relaxation times (ζ) and increases in sinusoidal, multisinusoidal, trapezoidal and triangular waves. It was also observed that the size of the trapping bolus decreases with the drop of the width of the channel ‘d’ and increases with a rise of relaxation times ζ.

Keywords: nanofluid particles, peristaltic flow, pseudoplastic fluid, different waveforms, inclined asymmetric channel

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Authors: Boma Nellie S, Nambiar Ritu, K. Kanchanmala, T. Rashida, Israell Imelda, Moul Khusnud, Michael Marina

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Gestational diabetes (GDM) imparts an increased life long risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease in women. Once diagnosed with GDM women have up to 74% increased cumulative risk developing T2DM in 10-15 years. Identifying women at increased risk of developing T2DM and offering them pharmacological and lifestyle management interventions will delay or eliminate the development of diabetes in this population. While ADA recommends that all gestational diabetics be offered postnatal screening, worldwide the screening rates from 35-75% and Al Rahba Hospital with a robust universal antenatal screening program for GDM was at a dismal 9% in 2011. A multidisciplinary team was put together involving OB/Gyn Physicians, Midwives, Nurses (ward and OPD) Diabetic Educators, Dietitians, Medical Records, Laboratory & IT with the implementation of multiple strategies to increase the uptake of postpartum screening of the gestational diabetic.

Keywords: GDM, postnatal screening, preventing type 2 diabetes, lifestyle management

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Authors: P. Hajyalikhani, E. Gilmore, C. Petty, J. Duron

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Wood framed construction is the most popular method of construction for residential buildings. The typical roof framing for wood-framed buildings is sloped and consists of several structural members, such as rafters, hips, and valleys that link to the ridge and ceiling joists. The most common type of wood framing used is platform framing, also known as stick framing. Failures of the wood framing structures are among the most common types of wind damage in densely populated regions. Wood-framed buildings are under uplift during tornadoes and hurricanes which cause the failure in the roof. The bracing long structure members such as hip and valley have a large impact on the resilience of wood-framed buildings. As a result, the common failures in wood-framed buildings are reviewed, and the critical support locations for lengthy hips and valleys with various slopes are analyzed and recommended.

Keywords: rafters, hips, valleys, hip, ceiling joist, roof failures, residential and commercial structures, hurricane, tornadoes, building codes

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Authors: Mawloud Mosbah, Bachir Boucheham

Abstract:

We present here the results for a comparative study of some techniques, available in the literature, related to the relevance feedback mechanism in the case of a short-term learning. Only one method among those considered here is belonging to the data mining field which is the K-Nearest Neighbours Algorithm (KNN) while the rest of the methods is related purely to the information retrieval field and they fall under the purview of the following three major axes: Shifting query, Feature Weighting and the optimization of the parameters of similarity metric. As a contribution, and in addition to the comparative purpose, we propose a new version of the KNN algorithm referred to as an incremental KNN which is distinct from the original version in the sense that besides the influence of the seeds, the rate of the actual target image is influenced also by the images already rated. The results presented here have been obtained after experiments conducted on the Wang database for one iteration and utilizing colour moments on the RGB space. This compact descriptor, Colour Moments, is adequate for the efficiency purposes needed in the case of interactive systems. The results obtained allow us to claim that the proposed algorithm proves good results; it even outperforms a wide range of techniques available in the literature.

Keywords: CBIR, category search, relevance feedback, query point movement, standard Rocchio’s formula, adaptive shifting query, feature weighting, original KNN, incremental KNN

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Authors: Mabrouka Al-Werfalli

Abstract:

This paper aims to highlight reasons beyond the prevalence of “culture of corruption” amongst Libyans. One of the most prominent reason for the Libyan revolution in February 2011 was the pervasiveness of corruption. Corruption in Libya remained a significant problem despite harsh legislation and a robust anti-corruption discourse undertaken by the previous regime. The long-standing political corruption in Libya has offered ample opportunity for the evolution of a structure of negative values and morals. This has formed what is termed as a “culture of corruption”, which has induced people to accept and justify corrupt behaviour. The paper is a part of a study concerns the phenomenon of political alienation in Libya which was based on a survey conducted in 2001 in the city of Benghazi. The finding shows that abuse of power looms large within all activities. Embezzlement and misuse of public funds for personal enrichment is thought to be rife within public bodies, institutions, companies, factories, banks and enterprises owned entirely or partially by the state.

Keywords: corruption, culture of corruption, participation in corruption, abuse of power, embezzlement, political alienation, anti-corruption

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Ivar Zekker, Ergo Rikmann, Anni Mandel, Markus Raudkivi, Kristel Kroon, Liis Loorits, Andrus Seiman, Hannu Fritze, Priit Vabamäe, Toomas Tenno, Taavo Tenno

Abstract:

The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and nitritation-anammox (deammonification) processes are widely used for N-rich wastewater treatment nowadays. A deammonification moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) with a high maximum total nitrogen removal rate (TNRR) of 1.5 g N m-2 d-1 was started up and similarly high TNRR was sustained at low temperature of 15°C. During biofilm cultivation, temperature in MBBR was lowered by 0.5° C week-1 sustaining the high TNRR. To study the short-term effect of temperature on the TNRR, a series of batch-scale experiments performed showed sufficient TNRRs even at 9-15° C (4.3-5.4 mg N L-1 h-1, respectively). After biomass was adapted to lower temperature (15°C), the TNRR increase at lower temperature (15°C) was relatively higher (15-20%) than with biomass adapted to higher temperatures (17-18°C). Anammox qPCR showed increase of Candidatus Brocadia quantities from 5×103 to 1×107 anammox gene copies g-1 TSS despite temperature lowered to 15°C. Modeling confirmed causes of stable and unstable periods in the reactor and in batch test high Arrhenius constant of 29.7 kJ mol-1 of the process as high as at 100 mg NO2--N L-1 were determined. 

Keywords: deammonification, reject water, intermittent aeration, nitrite inhibition

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Authors: K. A. El-Battawy, W. S. El-Nattat

Abstract:

The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the impact of methionine on the preservation, acrosomal integrity, DNA integrity and post thawing motility of extended goat semen. Semen samples were diluted with a Tris-based extender containing the additive methionine 1.5, 2.5 and 5mM then the diluted samples were kept in glass tubes and cooled from 37°C to 5°C in a cold cabinet, and maintained at 5°C. Sperm motility (SM%), alive sperm (AS%), sperm abnormalities (SA%) acrosomal integrity and DNA integrity were determined at 5°C for periods of 0,24, 48and 72 h of liquid storage. Furthermore, the influence of methionine on post-thawing motility was assessed. The results elaborated that the addition of methionine and L-tyrosine particularly 2.5mM of methionine significantly improved SM% and reduced dead sperm %. Furthermore, the addition of 2.5mM methionine improved post-thawing motility (43.75 ± 1.25% vs. 32.50 ± 3.23 in the control group). Moreover, the frequency of acrosomal defects was lower in treated groups than in control. In conclusion, the addition of methionine induced remarkable physiological effects on goat semen quality during conservation for 7-days-long period at 5°C and improved its freezability.

Keywords: methionine, acrosome, semen, cryopreservation

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Authors: Bahareh Khakifirooz, Arian Shojaei, Amirhossein Hajialigol, Bahare Abdolahi

Abstract:

Laceration of the inner layer of the myometrium can cause massive bleeding during and after childbirth, which can lead to the death of the mother if it is not diagnosed in time. We studied a rare case of massive intrapartum bleeding following myometrial laceration that was diagnosed correctly, and the patient survived with in-time treatments. The patient was a 26 years-old woman who was under observation for term pregnancy and complaint of rupture of membranes (ROM) and vaginal bleeding. Following the spontaneous course of labor and without receiving oxytocin, during the normal course of labor, she had an estimated total blood loss of 750 mL bleeding, which, despite the normal fetal heart rate and with the mother's indication for cesarean section, was transferred to the operating room and underwent cesarean section. During the cesarean section, the amniotic fluid was clear; after the removal of the placenta, severe and clear bleeding was flowing from the posterior wall of the uterus, which was caused by the laceration of the inner layer of the myometrium in the posterior wall of the lower segment of the uterus. The myometrial laceration was repaired with absorbable continuous locked sutures, and hemostasis was established, then, the patient used uterotonic drugs, and after monitoring, the patient was discharged from the hospital in good condition.

Keywords: intrapartum hemorrhage, inner myometrial laceration, labor, Increased intrauterine pressure

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Authors: Irnie Zakaria, W. A. N. W. Mohamed, W. H. Azmi

Abstract:

Thermal enhancement of a single mini channel in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) cooling plate is numerically investigated. In this study, low concentration of Al2O3 in Water - Ethylene Glycol mixtures is used as coolant in mini channel of carbon graphite plate to mimic the PEMFC cooling plate. A steady and incompressible flow with constant heat flux is assumed in the channel of 1mm x 5mm x 100mm. Nano particle of Al2O3 used ranges from 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 vol % concentration and then dispersed in 60:40 (water: Ethylene Glycol) mixture. The effect of different flow rates to fluid flow and heat transfer enhancement in Re number range of 20 to 140 was observed. The result showed that heat transfer coefficient was improved by 18.11%, 9.86% and 5.37% for 0.5, 0.3 and 0.1 vol % Al2O3 in 60:40 (water: EG) as compared to base fluid of 60:40 (water: EG). It is also showed that the higher vol % concentration of Al2O3 performed better in term of thermal enhancement but at the expense of higher pumping power required due to increase in pressure drop experienced. Maximum additional pumping power of 0.0012W was required for 0.5 vol % Al2O3 in 60:40 (water: EG) at Re number 140.

Keywords: heat transfer, mini channel, nanofluid, PEMFC

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Authors: Chaoyan Huang, Hongxia Zheng

Abstract:

For deep space exploration and long duration interplanetary manned missions, protection of astronauts from cosmic radiation is an unavoidable problem. However, passive shielding can be little effective for protecting particles which energies are greater than 1GeV/nucleon. In this study, active magnetic protection method is adopted. Taking into account the structure and size of the end-cap, eight shielding magnetic field configurations are designed based on the Hoffman configuration. The shielding effect of shielding magnetic field structure, intensity B and thickness L on H particles with 2GeV energy is compared by test particle simulation. The result shows that the shielding effect is better with the linear type magnetic field structure in the end-cap region. Furthermore, two magnetic field configurations with better shielding effect are investigated through H and He galactic cosmic spectra. And the shielding effect of the linear type configuration adopted in the barrel and end-cap regions is best.

Keywords: galactic cosmic rays, active protection, shielding magnetic field configuration, shielding effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 144