Search results for: mobile guide system

Authors: Samrat Vikramaditya Tiwari, Atul Sewaiwar, Yeon-Ho Chung

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Device-to-device (D2D) communication is considered a promising technique to provide wireless peer-to-peer communication services. Due to increasing demand on mobile services, available spectrum for radio frequency (RF) based communications becomes scarce. Recently, visible light communications (VLC) has evolved as a high speed wireless data transmission technology for indoor environments with abundant available bandwidth. In this paper, a novel VLC based D2D communication that provides wireless peer-to-peer communication is proposed. Potential low operating power devices for an efficient D2D communication over increasing distance of separation between devices is analyzed. Optical repeaters (OR) are also proposed to enhance the performance in an environment where direct D2D communications yield degraded performance. Simulation results show that VLC plays an important role in providing efficient D2D communication up to a distance of 1 m between devices. It is also found that the OR significantly improves the coverage distance up to 3.5 m.

Keywords: visible light communication, light emitting diode, device-to-device, optical repeater

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Authors: Mera Ababneh, Sayer Al-Azzam, Karem Alzoubi, Abeer Rababa'h

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Background: Medication errors are among the most common medical errors. Their occurrences result in patient’s mortality, morbidity, and additional healthcare costs. Continuous monitoring and detection is required. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare medication errors in outpatient’s prescriptions in two different hospitals (paper system vs. electronic system). Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study conducted in two major hospitals; King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) and Princess Bassma Teaching Hospital (PBTH) over three months period. Data collection was conducted by two trained pharmacists at each site. During the study period, medication prescriptions and dispensing procedures were screened for medication errors in both participating centers by two trained pharmacist. Results: In the electronic prescription hospital, 2500 prescriptions were screened in which 631 medication errors were detected. Prescription errors were 231 (36.6%), and dispensing errors were 400 (63.4%) of all errors. On the other side, analysis of 2500 prescriptions in paper-based hospital revealed 3714 medication errors, of which 288 (7.8%) were prescription errors, and 3426 (92.2%) were dispensing errors. A significant number of 2496 (67.2%) were inadequately and/or inappropriately labeled. Conclusion: This study provides insight for healthcare policy makers, professionals, and administrators to invest in advanced technology systems, education, and epidemiological surveillance programs to minimize medication errors.

Keywords: medication errors, prescription errors, dispensing errors, electronic prescription, handwritten prescription

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Authors: Jie Yang, Jian-Min Meng

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A GPU-based floating object detection scheme is presented in this paper which is designed for floating mine detection tasks. This system uses contrast and motion information to eliminate as many false positives as possible while avoiding false negatives. The GPU computation platform is deployed to allow detecting objects in real-time. From the experimental results, it is shown that with certain configuration, the GPU-based scheme can speed up the computation up to one thousand times compared to the CPU-based scheme.

Keywords: object detection, GPU, motion estimation, parallel processing

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Authors: Ying Han, Yuanxiang Chen, Yongtao Huang, Jia Fu, Kaile Li, Shangjing Lin, Jianguo Yu

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In long-haul and high-speed optical transmission system, the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal suffers various linear and non-linear impairments. In recent years, researchers have proposed compensation schemes for specific impairment, and the effects are remarkable. However, different impairment compensation algorithms have caused an increase in transmission delay. With the widespread application of deep neural networks (DNN) in communication, multi-impairment compensation based on DNN will be a promising scheme. In this paper, we propose and apply DNN to compensate multi-impairment of 16-QAM coherent optical OFDM signal, thereby improving the performance of the transmission system. The trained DNN models are applied in the offline digital signal processing (DSP) module of the transmission system. The models can optimize the constellation mapping signals at the transmitter and compensate multi-impairment of the OFDM decoded signal at the receiver. Furthermore, the models reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitted OFDM signal and the bit error rate (BER) of the received signal. We verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme for 16-QAM Coherent Optical OFDM signal and demonstrate and analyze transmission performance in different transmission scenarios. The experimental results show that the PAPR and BER of the transmission system are significantly reduced after using the trained DNN. It shows that the DNN with specific loss function and network structure can optimize the transmitted signal and learn the channel feature and compensate for multi-impairment in fiber transmission effectively.

Keywords: coherent optical OFDM, deep neural network, multi-impairment compensation, optical transmission

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Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Omer Alghamdi

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, a rapid, unexpected transition from face-to-face to virtual classroom (VC) teaching has involved several challenges and obstacles. However, there are also opportunities and thoughts that need to be examined and discussed. In addition, the entire world is witnessing that the teaching system and, more particularly, higher education institutes have been interrupted. To maintain the learning and teaching practices as usual, countries were forced to transition from traditional to virtual classes using various technology-based devices. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is no exception. Focusing on how the current situation has forced many higher education institutes to change to virtual classes may possibly provide a clear insight into adopted practices and implications. The main purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate how both Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and students perceived the implementation of virtual classes as a key factor for useful language teaching and learning process during the COVID-19 pandemic period at a Saudi university. The impetus for the research was, therefore, the need to find ways of identifying the deficiencies in this application and to suggest possible solutions that might rectify those deficiencies. This study seeks to answer the following overarching research question: “How do Saudi EFL instructors and students perceive the use of virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic period in their language teaching and learning context?” The following sub-questions are also used to guide the design of the study to answer the main research question: (1) To what extent are virtual classes important intra-pandemic from Saudi EFL instructors’ and students’ perspectives? (2) How effective are virtual classes for fostering English language students’ achievement? (3) What are the challenges and obstacles that instructors and students may face during the implementation of virtual teaching? A mixed method approach was employed in this study; the questionnaire data collection represented the quantitative method approach for this study, whereas the transcripts of recorded interviews represented the qualitative method approach. The participants included EFL teachers (N = 4) and male and female EFL students (N = 36). Based on the findings of this study, various aspects from teachers' and students’ perspectives were examined to determine the use of the virtual classroom applications in terms of fulfilling the students’ English language learning needs. The major findings of the study revealed that the virtual classroom applications during the current pandemic situation encountered three major challenges, among which the existence of the following essential aspects, namely lack of technology and an internet connection, having a large number of students in a virtual classroom and lack of students’ and teachers’ interactions during the virtual classroom applications. Finally, the findings indicated that although Saudi EFL students and teachers view the virtual classrooms in a positive light during the pandemic period, they reported that for long and post-pandemic period, they preferred the traditional face-to-face teaching procedure.

Keywords: virtual classes, English as a foreign language, COVID-19, Internet, pandemic

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Authors: Abdul Mannan Akhtar

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In this paper a novel concept of a self learning smart personalized computer assistant (ACPCA) is established which is a context aware system. Based on user habits, moods, and other routines/situational reactions the system will manage various services and suggestions at appropriate times including what schedule to follow, what to watch, what software to be used, what should be deleted etc. This system will utilize a hybrid fuzzyNeural model to predict what the user will do next and support his actions. This will be done by establishing fuzzy sets of user activities, choices, preferences etc. and utilizing their combinations to predict his moods and immediate preferences. Various application of context aware systems exist separately e.g. on certain websites for music or multimedia suggestions but a personalized autonomous system that could adapt to user’s personality does not exist at present. Due to the novelty and massiveness of this concept, this paper will primarily focus on the problem establishment, product features and its functionality; however a small mini case is also implemented on MATLAB to demonstrate some of the aspects of ACPCA. The mini case involves prediction of user moods, activity, routine and food preference using a hybrid fuzzy-Neural soft computing technique.

Keywords: context aware systems, APCPCA, soft computing techniques, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, neural network, mood detection, face detection, activity detection

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Authors: Elhameh Narimani, Mikhail Sorin, Philippe Micheau, Hakim Nesreddine

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Numerical models of the heat exchangers in ejector refrigeration system (ERS) were developed and validated with the experimental data. The models were based on the switched heat exchangers model using the moving boundary method, which were capable of estimating the zones’ lengths, the outlet temperatures of both sides and the heat loads at various experimental points. The developed models were utilized to investigate the influence of the primary flow pressure on the performance of an R245fa ERS based on its coefficient of performance (COP) and exergy efficiency. It was illustrated numerically and proved experimentally that increasing the primary flow pressure slightly reduces the COP while the exergy efficiency goes through a maximum before decreasing.

Keywords: Coefficient of Performance, COP, Ejector Refrigeration System, ERS, exergy efficiency (ηII), heat exchangers modeling, moving boundary method

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Authors: Julianne Cai, Weili Xue, Yibin Wu

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Social media retailing (SMR) platforms have become popular nowadays. It is characterized by a creative combination of content creation and product selling, which differs from traditional e-tailing (TE) with product selling alone. Motivated by real-world practices like social media platforms “TikTok” and douyin.com, we endeavor to study if the SMR model performs better than the TE model in a monopoly setting. By building a stylized economic model, we find that the SMR model does not always outperform the TE model. Specifically, when the SMR platform collects less commission from the seller than the TE platform, the seller, consumers, and social welfare all benefit more from the SMR model. In contrast, the platform benefits more from the SMR model if and only if the creator’s social influence is high enough or the cost of content creation is small enough. For the incentive structure of the content rewards in the SMR model, we found that a strong incentive mechanism (e.g., the quadratic form) is more powerful than a weak one (e.g., the linear form). The previous one will encourage the creator to choose a much higher quality level of content creation and meanwhile allowing the platform, consumers, and social welfare to become better off. Counterintuitively, providing more generous content rewards is not always helpful for the creator (seller), and it may reduce her profit. Our findings will guide the platform to effectively design incentive mechanisms to boost the content creation and retailing in the SMR model and help the influencers efficiently create content, engage their followers (fans), and price their products sold on the SMR platform.

Keywords: content creation, creator economy, incentive strategy, platform retailing

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Authors: Ibrahim A. Alkali

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There is no reservation on the outstanding contribution of patient families in restoration of hospitalised patients, hence their consideration as essential component of hospital ward regimen. The psychological and emotional support a patient requires has been found to be solely provided by the patient’s family. However, consideration of their presence as one of the major functional requirements of an inpatient setting design have always been a source of disquiet, especially in developing countries where policies, norms and protocols of healthcare administration have no consideration for the patients’ family. This have been a major challenge to the hospital ward facilities, a concern for the hospital administration and patient management. The study therefore is aimed at obtaining a consensus opinion on the best approach for family integration in the design of an inpatient setting.  A one day visioning charrette involving Architects, Nurses, Medical Doctors, Healthcare assistants and representatives from the Patient families was conducted with the aim of arriving at a consensus opinion on practical design approach for sustainable family integration. Patient’s family are found to be decisive character of hospital ward regimen that cannot be undermined. However, several challenges that impede family integration were identified and subsequently a recommendation for an ideal approach. This will serve as a guide to both architects and hospital management in implementing much desired Patient and Family Centred Care.

Keywords: patient's family, inpatient setting, care giving, integration

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Authors: Alba Francesca Canta

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The present is one of those times when what normally seems to constitute a reason for living vanishes, particularly in times of crisis, during which certainties of all times crumble, and critical issues emerge, especially in already problematic areas such as the role of women and children. This paper aims to explore the issue of gender and highlight the importance of education for people’s development and well-being. The study is part of the broader framework of the capability approach, a multidimensional approach based on the need to consider a person’s wealth by virtue of their opportunity and freedom to live a ‘life of worth. The results of empirical research conducted in 2020 will be presented, the main objective of which was to measure, through qualitative (project techniques, focus groups, interviews with key informants) and quantitative (questionnaire) methods, the level of empowerment of women in two Italian territories and the consequent well-being of their children. By means of the relationship study, the present research results show that a higher level of women’s empowerment corresponds to a higher level of children’s well-being in a positive virtuous process. The opportunity structure and education are the main driving guide both to women’s empowerment and children’s well-being, emphasizing the importance of education to gender culture as a key factor for the development of the whole society. Among all the traumatic events that broke the harmony of the world and caused an abrupt turn in all areas of society, the crisis of democracy and education are some of the harshest. Nevertheless, education continues to be a fundamental pillar of Global Development Agendas, and above all, democratic education is the main factor in the development of a generative society, capable of forming people who know how to live in society. In this context, recovering democratic and inclusive education can be the key to a breakthrough. In the capability approach Sen, and other Scholars, point out education from two different perspectives: a. education as a fundamental right capable of influencing other real fields of people’s life (i.e., being educated to prevent illness, to vote, etc.) and b. spread communitarian education, tolerance, inclusive, democratic, and respectful, capable of forming human beings. This kind of educational system can directly lead to a general process of gender education that presupposes respect for essential principles: equality, uniqueness, and the participation of all in the processes of defining a democratic society. Many practices of women and children’s exclusions essentially derive from social factors (norms, values, quality of institutions, relations of power, educational and cultural practices) that can build strong barriers. Respect for these principles and education for gender culture could foster the renewal of society and the acquisition of fundamental skills for a generative and inclusive society, such as critical skills, cosmopolitan skills, and narrative imagination.

Keywords: capability approach, children’s well-being, education, women’s empowerment

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Authors: Leila Batmany

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This research studies the relationship between the feeling of distributive justice and national identity of the youth. The present analysis intends to experimentally investigate the various dimensions of the justice feeling and its effect on the national identity components. The study has taken justice into consideration from four different points of view on the basis of availability of valuable social sources such as power, wealth, knowledge and status in the political, economic, and cultural and status justice respectively. Furthermore, the national identity has been considered as the feeling of honour, attachment and commitment towards national society and its seven components i.e. history, language, culture, political system, religion, geographical territory and society. The 'field study' has been used as the method for the research with the individual as unit, taking 368 young between the age of 18 and 29 living in Tehran, chosen randomly according to Cochran formula. The individual samples have been randomly chosen among five districts in north, south, west, east, and centre of Tehran, based on the multistage cluster sampling. The data collection has been performed with the use of questionnaire and interview. The most important results are as follows: i) The feeling of economic justice is the weakest one among the youth. ii) The strongest and the weakest dimensions of the national identity are, respectively, the historical and the social dimension. iii) There is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling political and statues justice and then national identity, whereas no meaningful relationship exists between the economic and cultural justice and the national identity. iv) There is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling of justice in all dimensions and legitimacy of the political system. There is also such a relationship between the legitimacy of the political system and national identity. v) Generally, there is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling of distributive justice and national identity among the youth. vi) It is through the legitimacy of the political system that justice feeling can have an influence on the national identity.

Keywords: distributive justice, national identity, legitimacy of political system, Cochran formula, multistage cluster sampling

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Authors: Siddegowda, Y. A. Sathish, G. Krishnegowda, T. M. Mohan Kumar

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Road accidents are a human tragedy. They involve high human suffering and monetary costs in terms of untimely death, injuries and social problems. India had earned the dubious distinction of having more number of fatalities due to road accidents in the world. Road safety is emerging as a major social concern around the world especially in India because of infrastructure project works. A case study was taken on NH – 07 which connects to various major cities and industries. The study shows that major cases of fatalities are due to bus, trucks and high speed vehicles. The main causes of accidents are due to high density, non-restriction of speed, use of mobile phones, lack of board signs on road parking, visibility restriction, improper geometric design, road use characteristics, environmental aspects, social aspects etc. Data analysis and preventive measures are enlightened in this paper.

Keywords: accidents, environmental aspects, fatalities, geometric design, road user characteristics

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Authors: Sonveer Singh, Sanjay Agrawal, D. V. Avasthi, Jayant Shekhar

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The aim of this paper is to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system with the help of Genetic Algorithms with multi-objective function. There are some parameters that affect the efficiency of PVT system like depth and length of the channel, velocity of flowing fluid through the channel, thickness of the tedlar and glass, temperature of inlet fluid i.e. all above parameters are considered for optimization. An attempt has been made to the model and optimizes the parameters of glazed hybrid single channel PVT module when two objective functions have been considered separately. The two objective function for optimization of PVT module is overall electrical and thermal efficiency. All equations for PVT module have been derived. Using genetic algorithms (GAs), above two objective functions of the system has been optimized separately and analysis has been carried out for two cases. Two cases are: Case-I; Improvement in electrical and thermal efficiency when overall electrical efficiency is optimized, Case-II; Improvement in electrical and thermal efficiency when overall thermal efficiency is optimized. All the parameters that are used in genetic algorithms are the parameters that could be changed, and the non-changeable parameters, like solar radiation, ambient temperature cannot be used in the algorithm. It has been observed that electrical efficiency (14.08%) and thermal efficiency (19.48%) are obtained when overall thermal efficiency was an objective function for optimization. It is observed that GA is a very efficient technique to estimate the design parameters of hybrid single channel PVT module.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, energy, exergy, PVT module, optimization

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Authors: John Gaber, Youssef Ahmed, Hossam A.Gabbar, Jing Ren

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Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operators have a large responsibility on their shoulders. They must allow the plant to generate a high amount of energy while inspecting and maintaining the safety of the plant. This type of occupation comes with high amounts of mental fatigue, and a small mistake can have grave consequences. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method of gathering the electromagnetic waves emitted by a human brain. We propose a safety system by monitoring brainwaves for signs of mental fatigue. This requires an analysis of the tasks and mental models of the NPP operator, as well as risk factors on mental fatigue and attention that NPP operators face when performing their tasks. The brain waves generated from experiencing mental fatigue can then be monitored for. These factors are analyzed, developing an EEG-based monitoring system, which aims to alert NPP operators when levels of mental fatigue and attention start affecting their performance in task completion.

Keywords: EEG, power plant operator, psychology, task analysis

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Authors: Hechmi Saidi, Noureddine Hamdi

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The performance of hybrid amplify and forward - decode and forward (AF-DF) hybrid radio frequency/free space optical (RF/FSO) communication system, that adopts M-ary pulse position modulation (MPPM) techniques, is analyzed. Both exact and approximate symbol-error rates (SERs) are derived. The random variations of the received optical irradiance, produced by the atmospheric turbulence, is modeled by the gamma-gamma (GG) statistical distribution. A closed-form expression for the probability density function (PDF) is derived for the whole above system is obtained. Thanks to the use of hybrid AF-DF hybrid RF/FSO configuration and MPPM, the effects of atmospheric turbulence is mitigated; hence the capacity of combating atmospheric turbulence and the transmissitted signal quality are improved.

Keywords: free space optical, gamma gamma channel, radio frequency, decode and forward, error pointing, M-ary pulse position modulation, symbol error rate

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Authors: Bassam Istanbouli

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With the technology evolving every day and with the increase in global competition, industries are always under the pressure to be the best. They need to provide good quality products at competitive prices, when and how the customer wants them.  In order to achieve this level of service, products and their respective supply chain processes need to be flexible and evolvable; otherwise changes will be extremely expensive, slow and with many combinatorial effects. Those combinatorial effects impact the whole organizational structure, from a management, financial, documentation, logistics and specially the information system Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) perspective. By applying the normalized system concept/theory to segments of the supply chain, we believe minimal effects, especially at the time of launching an organization global software project. The purpose of this paper is to point out that if an organization wants to develop a software from scratch or implement an existing ERP software for their business needs and if their business processes are normalized and modular then most probably this will yield to a normalized and modular software system that can be easily modified when the business evolves. Another important goal of this paper is to increase the awareness regarding the design of the business processes in a software implementation project. If the blueprints created are normalized then the software developers and configurators will use those modular blueprints to map them into modular software. This paper only prepares the ground for further studies;  the above concept will be supported by going through the steps of developing, configuring and/or implementing a software system for an organization by using two methods: The Software Development Lifecycle method (SDLC) and the Accelerated SAP implementation method (ASAP). Both methods start with the customer requirements, then blue printing of its business processes and finally mapping those processes into a software system.  Since those requirements and processes are the starting point of the implementation process, then normalizing those processes will end up in a normalizing software.

Keywords: blueprint, ERP, modular, normalized

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Authors: Uzma Fakhar, Osama Fakhar, Aamir Shafiq Ch

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Methods of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) like conciliation, arbitration, mediation are the supplement to ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice in a country. Justice delayed has not only created chaos, but an element of rebellious behavior towards judiciary is being floated among people. Complexity of traditional judicial system and its diversity has created an overall coherence. Admittedly, In Pakistan the traditional judicial system has failed to achieve its goals which resulted in the backlog of cases pending in courts, resultantly even the critics of alternate dispute resolution agree to restore the spirit of expeditious justice by reforming the old Panchayat system. The Government is keen to enact certain laws and make amendments to facilitate the resolution of a dispute through a simple and faster ADR framework instead of a lengthy and exhausting complex trial in order to create proliferation and faith in alternate dispute resolution. This research highlights the value of ADR in a country like Pakistan for revival of the confidence of the people upon the judicial process and a useful judicial tool to reduce the pressure on the judiciary.

Keywords: alternate dispute resolution, development of law, expeditious justice, Pakistan

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Authors: Soumitri Bag Majumder, Anindita Chaudhuri

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This exploratory study delves into the perception of job dignity among delivery agents in Kolkata, focusing on both food and grocery delivery sectors. The rapid expansion of online delivery platforms in India has led to a significant rise in the delivery service industry. Despite its growth, there is a dearth of research addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by delivery agents. This study aims to bridge this gap by shedding light on their experiences. The study’s objectives include exploring the lived experiences of delivery agents, their work-life balance, and their perception of job dignity. Using a qualitative research approach, the study will conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 participants from each sector, consisting of individuals with lower socio-economic backgrounds aged between 18 and 35 years. The Three-Layer Coding framework proposed by Charmaz will guide the data analysis process, encompassing open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Through this method, the study seeks to uncover emergent themes and patterns that illuminate the participants’ perspectives on job dignity, recognition, and the challenges they encounter. By uncovering their perceptions of job dignity and the challenges they face, the research aims to contribute to the well-being of these workers and inform relevant stakeholders for a more equitable work environment.

Keywords: delivery agents, equitable work environment, perception of job dignity, work-life balance

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Authors: Valentin P. Velikov

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Automatic program generation saves time, human resources, and allows receiving syntactically clear and logically correct modules. The 4-th generation programming languages are related to drawing the data and the processes of the subject area, as well as, to obtain a frame of the respective information system. The application can be separated in interface and business logic. That means, for an interactive generation of the needed system to be used an already existing toolkit or to be created a new one.

Keywords: computer science, graphical user interface, user dialog interface, dialog frames, data modeling, subject area modeling

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Authors: Salem Alajmi, Bader Altaweel

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Kuwait, like many parts of the world, has started facing the dangerous growth of electrical and electronic wastes. This growth has been noted last two decades, coming along with the development of mobile phones, computers, TVs, as well as other electronic devices and electrical equipment. Kuwait is already among the highest global producers of electronic waste (E-waste) in kg per capita. Furthermore, Kuwait is among the global countries that set high-level future targets in renewable energy projects. Accumulation of this electronic waste, as well as accelerated renewable energy projects, will lead to the increase of future threats to the country. In this research, factors that lead to the increase the e-waste in Kuwait are presented. Also, the current situations of dealing with e-waste in the country as well as current challenges are examined. The impact of renewable energy projects on future E-wastes accumulation is considered. Moreover, this research proposes the best strategies and practices toward successfully dealing with the waste of electronic devices and renewable energy technologies.

Keywords: Kuwait, e-waste, extended producer responsibility, environment, recycle, recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Vishnu Satya

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Rural communities form the backbone of our society. These communities are self-contained, for the most part, in how they can sustain themselves. Except for the essentials, they are primarily dependent on the state for their development and prosperity. The state claims to provide these through policies and agencies which are designed to guide their livelihood and future. It is assumed that the state-run policies are effective and are reaching the intended audience. Though in reality, there is an ever-widening gap between the two. The interviews conducted with farmers suggests that the support provided by the state to this marginalized community falls far short of their expectations, leaving them helpless. This paper discusses the methods used in bringing the status quo of the marginalized farmers to the forefront by comparing-and-contrasting the existing rhetoric and reality of the rural diaspora. It is seen from the hands-on oral accounts of farmers that they are left hanging between the state and their farms. Unrepresented, this community's progress and future stand severely affected. The paper presents how the visual medium acts as a catalyst for social advocacy by bridging the gap between administrative services and the marginalized rural communities. The finding was that there exists a disconnect between policymakers and the farming community, which has hindered the progress of the farmers. These two communities live exclusively from each other. In conclusion, it is seen that when the gaps between administrators and farmers are plugged through grass-root efforts utilizing visual medium, the farmer's economic situation got better, and the community prospered.

Keywords: farmers, social advocacy, marginalized, story telling

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Authors: N. Ipiña, R. Basagoiti, O. Jimenez, I. Arriaran

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Higher education students are increasingly enrolling in online courses, they are, at the same time, generating data about their learning process in the courses. Data collected in those technology enhanced learning spaces can be used to identify patterns and therefore, offer recommendations/personalized courses to future online students. Moreover, recommendations are considered key aspects for personalization in online learning. Taking into account the above mentioned context, the aim of this paper is to explore the perception of higher education students and teachers towards receiving recommendations in online courses. The study was carried out with 322 students and 10 teachers from two different faculties (Engineering and Education) from Mondragon University. Online questionnaires and face to face interviews were used to gather data from the participants. Results from the questionnaires show that most of the students would like to receive recommendations in their online courses as a guide in their learning process. Findings from the interviews also show that teachers see recommendations useful for their students’ learning process. However, teachers believe that specific pedagogical training is required. Conclusions can also be drawn as regards the importance of personalization in technology enhanced learning. These findings have significant implications for those who train online teachers due to the fact that pedagogy should be the driven force and further training on the topic could be required. Therefore, further research is needed to better understand the impact of recommendations on online students’ learning process and draw some conclusion on pedagogical concerns.

Keywords: higher education, perceptions, recommendations, online courses

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Authors: Liyu Adhi Kasari Sulung

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Poverty has been a major problem in Indonesia. Islamic micro finance (IMF) named Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil (Bmt) plays a prominent role to eradicate this. Indonesia as the biggest muslim country has many successful applied products such as worldwide adopt group-based lending approach, flexible financing for farmers, and gold pawning. The Problems related to these models are operation risk management and internal control system (ICS). A proper ICS will help an organization in preventing the occurrence of bad financing through detecting error and irregularities in its operation. This study aims to seek a proper risk management scheme of credit system in Bmt and internal control system’s rank for every stage. Risk management variables are obtained at the first In-Depth Interview (IDI) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with Shariah supervisory boards, boards of directors, and operational managers. Survey was conducted covering nationwide data; West Java, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara. Moreover, Content analysis is employed to build the relationship among these variables. Research Findings shows that risk management Characteristics in Indonesia involves ex ante, credit process, and ex post strategies to deal with risk in credit system. Ex-ante control consists of Shariah compliance, survey, group leader reference, and islamic forming orientation. Then, credit process involves saving, collateral, joint liability, loan repayment, and credit installment controlling. Finally, ex-post control includes shariah evaluation, credit evaluation, grace period and low installment provisions. In addition, internal control order sort three stages by its priority; Credit process as first rank, then ex-post control as second, and ex ante control as the last rank.

Keywords: internal control system, islamic micro finance, poverty, risk management

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Authors: Weixing Tan

Abstract:

Production of nutraceuticals from microalgae—a virtually untapped natural phyto-based source of which there are 200,000 to 1,000,000 species—offers a sustainable and healthy alternative to conventionally sourced nutraceuticals for the market. Microalgae can be grown organically using only natural sunlight, water and nutrients at an extremely fast rate, e.g. 10-100 times more efficiently than crops or trees. However, the commercial success of microalgae products at scale remains limited largely due to the lack of economically viable technologies. There are two major microalgae production systems or technologies currently available: 1) the open system as represented by open pond technology and 2) the closed system such as photobioreactors (PBR). Each carries its own unique features and challenges. Although an open system requires a lower initial capital investment relative to a PBR, it conveys many unavoidable drawbacks; for example, much lower productivity, difficulty in contamination control/cleaning, inconsistent product quality, inconvenience in automation, restriction in location selection, and unsuitability for cold areas – all directly linked to the system openness and flat underground design. On the other hand, a PBR system has characteristics almost entirely opposite to the open system, such as higher initial capital investment, better productivity, better contamination and environmental control, wider suitability in different climates, ease in automation, higher and consistent product quality, higher energy demand (particularly if using artificial lights), and variable operational expenses if not automated. Although closed systems like PBRs are not highly competitive yet in current nutraceutical supply market, technological advances can be made, in particular for the PBR technology, to narrow the gap significantly. One example is a readily scalable P2P Microalgae PBR Technology at Grande Prairie Regional College, Canada, developed over 11 years considering return on investment (ROI) for key production processes. The P2P PBR system is approaching economic viability at a pre-commercial stage due to five ROI-integrated major components. They include: (1) optimum use of free sunlight through attenuation (patented); (2) simple, economical, and chemical-free harvesting (patent ready to file); (3) optimum pH- and nutrient-balanced culture medium (published), (4) reliable water and nutrient recycling system (trade secret); and (5) low-cost automated system design (trade secret). These innovations have allowed P2P Microalgae Technology to increase daily yield to 106 g/m2/day of Chlorella vulgaris, which contains 50% proteins and 2-3% omega-3. Based on the current market prices and scale-up factors, this P2P PBR system presents as a promising microalgae technology for market competitive nutraceutical supply.

Keywords: microalgae technology, nutraceuticals, open pond, photobioreactor PBR, return on investment ROI, technological advances

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Authors: Zhenhua Wei, Gabriel Falzone, Bu Wang, Laurent Pilon, Gaurav Sant

Abstract:

The production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is a CO₂ intensive process. Specifically, cement clinkering reactions require not only substantial energy in the form of heat, but also result in the release of CO₂, from limestone decarbonation and the combustion of fuel. To overcome this CO₂ intensive process, clinkering-free cementation is demonstrated by the carbonation of fly ash; i.e., a by-product of coal combustion. It is shown that in moist environments and at sub-boiling temperatures, calcium-rich fly ashes readily react with gas-phase CO₂ to provide cementation. After seven days of CO₂ exposure at 75°C, such formulations achieve a compressive strength on the order of 35 MPa and take-up 9% CO₂ (by mass of the solid). On the other hand, calcium-deficient fly ashes, due to their lack of alkalinity (i.e., abundance of mobile Ca or Mg), show little if any potential for CO₂ uptake and strength gain. The role of the CO₂ concentration and processing temperature are discussed and linked to the progress of reactions, and the development of microstructure. The outcomes demonstrate a means for enabling clinkering-free cementation while enabling beneficial utilization of CO₂ and fly ash; i.e., two abundant but underutilized industrial by-products.

Keywords: fly ash, carbonation, concrete, strength

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Authors: Kathy Mwende Kiema, Remember Samu, Murat Fahrioglu

Abstract:

The potential of power generation from solar resources has been established as being robust in sub Saharan Africa. Consequently many governments in the region have encouraged the exploitation of this resource through, inter alia direct funding, subsidies and legislation (such as feed in tariffs). Through a case study of Kenya and Zimbabwe it is illustrated that a good deal of proposed grid connected solar power projects and related feed in tariffs have failed to take into account key economic and technical considerations in the selection of solar technologies to be implemented. This paper therefore presents a comparison between concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar photovoltaic (PV) to assess which technology is better suited to meet the energy demand for a given set of prevailing conditions. The evaluation criteria employed is levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), net present value (NPV) and plant capacity factor. The outcome is therefore a guide to aid policy makers and project developers in choosing between CSP and PV given certain solar irradiance values, planned nominal plant capacity, availability of water resource and a consideration of whether or not the power plant is intended to compete with existing technologies, primarily fossil fuel powered, in meeting the peak load.load.

Keywords: capacity factor, peak load, solar PV, solar CSP

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Authors: Frimpong Kyeremeh, Albert Y. Appiah, Ben B. K. Ayawli

Abstract:

Energy storage system (ESS) is an essential part of a microgrid (MG) because of its immense benefits to the economics and the stability of MG. For a direct current (DC) MG (DCMG) in which the generating units are mostly variable renewable energy generators, DC bus voltage fluctuation is inevitable; hence ESS is vital in managing the mismatch between load demand and generation. Besides, to accrue the maximum benefits of ESS in the microgrid, there is the need for proper sizing and location of the ESSs. In this paper, a performance comparison is made between two configurations of ESS; distributed battery energy storage system (D-BESS) and an aggregated (centralized) battery energy storage system (A-BESS), on the basis of stability and operational cost for a DCMG. The configuration consists of four households with rooftop PV panels and a wind turbine. The objective is to evaluate and analyze the technical efficiencies, cost effectiveness as well as controllability of each configuration. The MG is first modelled with MATLAB Simulink then, a mathematical model is used to determine the optimal size of the BESS that minimizes the total operational cost of the MG. The performance of the two configurations would be tested with simulations. The two configurations are expected to reduce DC bus voltage fluctuations, but in the cases of voltage stability and optimal cost, the best configuration performance will be determined at the end of the research. The work is in progress, and the result would help MG designers and operators to make the best decision on the use of BESS for DCMG configurations.

Keywords: aggregated energy storage system, DC bus voltage, DC microgrid, distributed battery energy storage, stability

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Authors: Ali A. Ukasha

Abstract:

Data security needed in data transmission, storage, and communication to ensure the security. The single step parallel contour extraction (SSPCE) method is used to create the edge map as a key image from the different Gray level/Binary image. Performing the X-OR operation between the key image and each bit plane of the original image for image pixel values change purpose. The Arnold transform used to changes the locations of image pixels as image scrambling process. Experiments have demonstrated that proposed algorithm can fully encrypt 2D Gary level image and completely reconstructed without any distortion. Also shown that the analyzed algorithm have extremely large security against some attacks like salt & pepper and JPEG compression. Its proof that the Gray level image can be protected with a higher security level. The presented method has easy hardware implementation and suitable for multimedia protection in real time applications such as wireless networks and mobile phone services.

Keywords: SSPCE method, image compression, salt and peppers attacks, bitplanes decomposition, Arnold transform, lossless image encryption

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Authors: Mauricio Filho, Carina Castro

Abstract:

The object of this project is to analyze long-time public agents that passed through several governments and see themselves in the position of having to deliberate with new agents, recently settled in the public administration. For theoretical ends, internal deliberation is understood as the one practiced on the public administration agencies, without any direct participation from the general public in the process. The assumption is: agents with longer periods of public service tend to step away from momentary political discussions that guide the current administration and seek to concentrate on institutionalized routines and procedures, making the most politically aligned individuals with the current government deliberate with less "passion" and more exchanging of knowledge and information. The theoretical framework of this research is institutionalism, which is guided by a more pragmatic view, facing the fluidity of reality in ways showing the multiple relations between agents and their respective institutions. The critical aspirations of this project rest on the works of professors Cass Sunstein, Adrian Vermeule, Philipp Pettit and in literature from both institutional theory and economic analysis of law, greatly influenced by the Chicago Law School. Methodologically, the paper is a theoretical review and pretends to be unfolded, in a future moment, in empirical tests for verification. This work has as its main analytical tool the appeal to theoretical and doctrinaire areas from the Juridical Sciences, by adopting the deductive and analytical method.

Keywords: institutions, state, law, agencies

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Authors: Paria Tajabor, Azin Azarbani

Abstract:

The purpose of this research study is exploring two kind of semantic repositories with regards to various factors to find the best approaches that an artificial manager can use to produce ontology in a system based on their interaction, association and research. To this end, as the best way to evaluate each system and comparing with others is analysis, several benchmarking over these two repositories were examined. These two semantic repositories: OWLIM and AllegroGraph will be the main core of this study. The general objective of this study is to be able to create an efficient and cost-effective manner reports which is required to support decision making in any large enterprise.

Keywords: OWLIM, allegrograph, RDF, reasoning, semantic repository, semantic-web, SPARQL, ontology, query

Procedia PDF Downloads 249