Search results for: the degree of implementation index

Authors: Riku Hayashida, Tomoaki Hashimoto

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This paper provides a robust stabilization method for rotational motion of underwater robots against parameter uncertainties. Underwater robots are expected to be used for various work assignments. The large variety of applications of underwater robots motivates researchers to develop control systems and technologies for underwater robots. Several control methods have been proposed so far for the stabilization of nominal system model of underwater robots with no parameter uncertainty. Parameter uncertainties are considered to be obstacles in implementation of the such nominal control methods for underwater robots. The objective of this study is to establish a robust stabilization method for rotational motion of underwater robots against parameter uncertainties. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Keywords: robust control, stabilization method, underwater robot, parameter uncertainty

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Authors: Subramaniam Chandran, A. Geetha

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This paper addresses three issues: how to prepare the instructional design for imparting English language skill from inter-disciplinary self-learning material; how the disadvantaged students are benefited from such kind of language skill imparted through m-learning; and how do m-learners perform better than the other learners. This paper examines these issues through an experimental study conducted among the distance learners enrolled in a preparatory program for bachelor’s degree. This program is designed for the disadvantaged learners especially for the school drop-outs to qualify to pursue graduate program through distant education. It also explains how mobile learning helps them to enhance their capacity in learning despite their rural background and other disadvantages. In India, nearly half of the students enrolled in schools do not complete their study. The pursuance of higher education is very low when compared with developed countries. This study finds a significant increase in their learning capacity and mobile learning seems to be a viable alternative where the conventional system could not reach the disadvantaged learners. Improving the English language skill is one of the reasons for such kind of performance. Exercises framed from the relevant self-learning material for enhancing English language skill not only improves language skill but also widens the subject-knowledge. This paper explains these issues out of the study conducted among the disadvantaged learners.

Keywords: English language skill, disadvantaged learners, distance education, m-learning

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Authors: Brahmia Nadjet

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The growing needs of displacements led advanced countries in this field install new specific transport systems, able to palliate any deficiencies, especially when regular public transport does not adequately meet the requests of users. In this context, on-demand transport systems (ODT) are very efficient; they rely on techniques based on the location of trip generators which should be assured effectively with the use of operators responsible of the advance reservation, planning and organization, and studying the different ODT criteria (organizational, technical, geographical, etc.). As the advanced countries in the field of transport, some developing countries are involved in the adaptation of the new technologies to reduce the deficit in their communication system. This communication presents the study of an ODT implementation in the west of Algeria, by developing the Geomatics side of the study. This part requires the use of specific systems (such as GIS, RDBMS), so we developed the process through an application in an environment of mobility by using the computer tools dedicated to the management of the entities related to the transport field.

Keywords: ODT, geomatics, GIS, transport systems

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Authors: Rameshwar Dahal, S. Ping Ho

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Although the demand for infrastructure development forms a promising market opportunity for international firms, the dominance of informal institutions over formal ones, investors are facing extraordinary institutional challenges when investing in emerging Least Developed Countries (LDCs). We believe that, in emerging LDCs, the project performance heavily depends on how well the entrants respond to the challenges exerted by the host institutional environments. Which primarily depends on how much they learn about the host institution and what strategy they apply in response. In Nepal, almost all international or global infrastructure projects are financed by international financers, so the procurement process of the infrastructure projects financed by foreign agencies is guided by the policies and regulations of the financer. Because of limited resources and the financers’ demand, contractors and consults are procured internationally. Moreover, the resources, including but not limited to construction material, manpower, and equipment, also need to be imported. Therefore, the involvement of international companies as an entrant in global infrastructure projects of LDCs is obvious. In a global project (GP), participants from different geographical and institutional environments hold different beliefs and have disparate interests. Therefore, the entrants face the challenges exerted by the host institutional environments. The entrants must either adapt to the institutions prevailing in the environment or resist the institutional pressures. It is hypothesized that, in emerging LDCs, the project performance heavily depends on how much the entrants learn about the host institutional knowledge and how well they respond to the institutional environments. While it is impossible to generalize the phenomenon and contextual conditions because of their vast diversity, this study has answered why and how participants’ level of institutional knowledge impacts the project's implementation performance. To draw that conclusion, firstly, we explored two typical GPs from Nepal. For this study, the data were collected by conducting interviews and examining the secondary data, such as the project reports published by the financers, project data provided by interviewees, and news reports. In an event analysis, firstly, we identify the sources, causes, or nature of the institutional challenges; secondly, we analyze the entrant’s responses to the exerted challenges and evaluate the impacts of the responses on the overall project performance. In this study, at first, the events occurred during the project implementation process have a causal link with the local institutions that demand the entrants’ response are extracted. Secondly, each event is scrutinized as the critical success factor of the case project. Finally, it is crucially examined whether and what institutional knowledge in these events played a critical role in project success or failure. The results also provide insights into the crucial institutional knowledge in LDCs and the subsequent strategy implications for undertaking projects in LDCs.

Keywords: emerging countries, LDC, project management, project performance, institutional knowledge, institutional theory

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Authors: Tatyana Gavrilova, Vadim Onufriev

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Knowledge-based systems’ design requires the developer’s owning the advanced analytical skills. The efficient development of that skills within university courses needs a deep understanding of main pitfalls and drawbacks, which students usually make during their analytical work in form of visual modeling. Thus, it was necessary to hold an analysis of 5-th year students’ learning exercises within courses of 'Intelligent systems' and 'Knowledge engineering' in Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University. The analysis shows that both lack of system thinking skills and methodological mistakes in course design cause the errors that are discussed in the paper. The conclusion contains an exploration of the issues and topics necessary and sufficient for the implementation of the improved practices in educational design for future curricula of teaching programs.

Keywords: knowledge based systems, knowledge engineering, students’ errors, visual modeling

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Authors: Burak Erkayman

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The manufacturing and service organizations are in the need of using ERP systems to integrate many functions from purchasing to storage, production planning to calculation of costs. Using ERP systems by the integration in the level of information provides companies remarkable advantages in terms of profitability, productivity and efficiency in processes. Cloud computing is one of the most significant changes in information and communication technology. The developments in Cloud Computing attract business world to take advantage of this field. Cloud Computing means much more storage area, more cost saving and faster data transfer rate. In addition to these, it presents new business models, new field of study and practicable solutions for anyone’s use. These developments make inevitable the implementation of ERP systems to cloud environment. In this study, the performance of ERP systems in cloud environment is analyzed through various performance criteria and a comparison between traditional and cloud-ERP systems is presented. At the end of study the transformation and the future of ERP systems is discussed.

Keywords: cloud-ERP, ERP system performance, information system transformation

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Authors: Ana Martins, Isabel Martins

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The purpose of this research is to ascertain whether students at HEIs cultivate distributed leadership and higher-level skills to inspire knowledge creation. Critical reflection of extant literature illustrates the need for a culture of innovation in organizational sustainability. New age leadership behaviors harmonize innovation. The leadership self-efficacy construct supports organizational learning. This exploratory study applies the pragmatic paradigm methodology using the survey research method for primary data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of university students based in the Southern Anatolian region of Turkey, from both under and postgraduate Business degree programs. An analysis of the findings reveals a greater connection in influencing behavior relying more on the task-centered perspective rather than with the people perspective. These results reveal the need for HEIs to instill a humanistic perspective in curricula enabling graduates to be capable leaders with the awareness soft skills to energize creativity and innovation. A limitation of this research is that one university makes it difficult to generalize to a broader population. This study is of added value for scholars and organizations in the current knowledge and innovation economy.

Keywords: distributed leadership, exploration, higher education institutions, innovation, knowledge creation, learning, self-efficacy

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Authors: Yuri V. Plugatar, Vladimir P. Koba, Vladimir V. Papelbu, Vladimir N. Gerasimchuk, Tatjana M. Sakhno

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Using a supersonic shaft–wood tomography, the evaluation of a shaft-wood phyto-pathogenic damage level of Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buccholz was prosecuted. The digital bivariate reflections of the shaft tissue damage were obtained, the characteristics of comparative parameters of the wood-decay degree were given. The investigation results allowed to show up the role of some edaphic factors in their affection on a vital condition and the level of destructive processes while shaft tissue damaging of S.giganteum. It was pinned up that soil consolidation, and hydro-morphication equally make for a phyto-pathogenic damage of plants. While soil consolidation negative acting the shaft-wood damage is located in an underneath of a shaft. In the conditions of an enlarged hydro-morphication a tissue degradation runs less intensively, the destructive processes more active spread in a vertical section of a shaft. The use of a supersonic tomography method gives wide possibilities to diagnose a shaft-wood phyto-pathogenic damage.

Keywords: Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buccholz, supersonic tomography, diagnosis, phyto-pathogenic damage, a vital condition

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Authors: Irtaza M. Syed, Kaamran Raahemifar

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This paper presents a model predictive control (MPC) of a utility interactive (UI) single phase inverter (SPI) for a photovoltaic (PV) system at residential/distribution level. The proposed model uses single-phase phase locked loop (PLL) to synchronize SPI with the grid and performs MPC control in a dq reference frame. SPI model consists of boost converter (BC), maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control, and a full bridge (FB) voltage source inverter (VSI). No PI regulators to tune and carrier and modulating waves are required to produce switching sequence. Instead, the operational model of VSI is used to synthesize sinusoidal current and track the reference. Model is validated using a three kW PV system at the input of UI-SPI in Matlab/Simulink. Implementation and results demonstrate simplicity and accuracy, as well as reliability of the model.

Keywords: phase locked loop, voltage source inverter, single phase inverter, model predictive control, Matlab/Simulink

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Authors: H. Mashhady, H. A. Manzoori, M. Doosti, M. Fatollahi

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This study reports a descriptive research in the form of a genre analysis of postgraduates' theses and dissertations at three Iranian universities, including Ferdowsi, Tehran, and Tarbiat Moddares universities. The researchers sought to depict the generic structure of “statement of the problem” section of PhD dissertations and MA theses. Moreover, researchers desired to find any probable variety based on the year the dissertations belonged, to see weather genre-consciousness developed among Iranian postgraduates. To obtain data, “statement of the problem” section of 90 Ph.D. dissertations and MA theses from 2001 to 2013 in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at above-mentioned universities was selected. Frequency counts was employed for the quantitative method of data analysis, while genre analysis was used as the qualitative method. Inter-rater reliability was found to be about 0.93. Results revealed that students in different degrees at each of these universities used various generic structures for writing “statement of the problem”. Moreover, comparison of different time periods (2001-2006, and 2007-2013) revealed that postgraduates in the second time period, regardless of their degree and university, employed more similar generic structures which can be optimistically attributed to a general raise in genre awareness.

Keywords: genre, genre analysis, Ph.D. and MA dissertations, statement of the problem, generic structure

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Authors: Herbert W. Corley

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A scalar equilibrium (SE) is an alternative type of equilibrium in pure strategies for an n-person normal-form game G. It is defined using optimization techniques to obtain a pure strategy for each player of G by maximizing an appropriate utility function over the acceptable joint actions. The players’ actions are determined by the choice of the utility function. Such a utility function could be agreed upon by the players or chosen by an arbitrator. An SE is an equilibrium since no players of G can increase the value of this utility function by changing their strategies. SEs are formally defined, and examples are given. In a greedy SE, the goal is to assign actions to the players giving them the largest individual payoffs jointly possible. In a weighted SE, each player is assigned weights modeling the degree to which he helps every player, including himself, achieve as large a payoff as jointly possible. In a compromise SE, each player wants a fair payoff for a reasonable interpretation of fairness. In a parity SE, the players want their payoffs to be as nearly equal as jointly possible. Finally, a satisficing SE achieves a personal target payoff value for each player. The vector payoffs associated with each of these SEs are shown to be Pareto optimal among all such acceptable vectors, as well as computationally tractable.

Keywords: compromise equilibrium, greedy equilibrium, normal-form game, parity equilibrium, pure strategies, satisficing equilibrium, scalar equilibria, utility function, weighted equilibrium

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Authors: Ika Wulansari, Yati Afiyanti, Indang Trihandini

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Sleeping disorder experienced by patients with breast cancer can affect the physical, mental, health, and well-being. This study examines the effect of progressive muscle relaxation training and sleep hygiene education to change sleep quality scores of the patient with breast cancer. The study design using quasi-experiment with pre-post test within the control group, involving 62 breast cancer patients using consecutive sampling method in Jakarta. Statistical test results with independent t-test showed a significant difference in score of sleep quality between in intervention group and the control group (6,66±3,815; 9,30±3,334, p-value = 0,005). Progressive muscle relaxation exercise and sleep hygiene education proven to be affective to change the patients sleeping quality, so that it can be an alternative therapeutic option to overcome sleeping disorders.

Keywords: sleeping disorders, breast cancer, progressive muscle relaxation, sleep hygiene education

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Authors: S. S. Ghodsi, M. H. Mehrabi, Zainah Ibrahim, Meldi Suhatril

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This research examines the performance of a hybrid passive control device for enhancing the seismic response of steel frame structures. The device design comprises a damper which employs a viscoelastic material to control both shear and axial strain. In the design, energy is dissipated through the shear strain of a two-layer system of viscoelastic pads which are located between steel plates. In addition, viscoelastic blocks have been included on either side of the main shear damper which obtains compressive strains in the viscoelastic blocks. These dampers not only dissipate energy but also increase the stiffness of the steel frame structure, and the degree to which they increase the stiffness may be controlled by the size and shape. In this research, the cyclical behavior of the damper was examined both experimentally and numerically with finite element modeling. Cyclic loading results of the finite element modeling reveal fundamental characteristics of this hybrid viscoelastic damper. The results indicate that incorporating a damper of the design can significantly improve the seismic performance of steel frame structures.

Keywords: cyclic loading, energy dissipation, hybrid damper, passive control system, viscoelastic damper

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Authors: S. Alotaibi, D. Roussinov

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Mobile government services implementation faces several challenges in developing countries. This paper studies some of those challenges in the context of Saudi Arabia. The study aims to investigate factors affecting m-government acceptance in Saudi Arabia, including ease of use, usefulness, service quality, trust, intention to use and users’ satisfaction. Our investigation will help in integrating the m-government services in citizens’ everyday life. We collected and analyzed our data from focus groups. These focus groups are from King Saud University and Imam Muhammed Bin Saud University, so the samples size are five and seven participants, respectively. We found that there are some factors to identifying citizen requirements to Saudi mobile government services. These services should be easy to use and not require too much effort. Also, these services must be fully trusted.

Keywords: e-government, m-government, focus group, Saudi mobile government services

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Authors: Belkadi Adel, Beboucha Wahib, Cherara lalia

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Kumi-kata in elite judokas and characterize the kinematic and temporal parameters of different types of handgrip (HG). Method: fourteen participated in this study male athlete (23.5±2.61 years; 1.81±0.37 0 m; 87.25±22.75 kg), members of the Georgian Judo team. To characterize the dominance and types of kumi-kata used, videos of international competitions from each athlete were analyzed, and to characterize kinematic and temporal parameters and handgrip, and the volunteers pressed a digital dynamometer with each hand for 30 seconds(s) after a visual signal. Results: The values of 0.26±0.69s and 0.31±0.03s for reaction time were obtained, respectively, in the full grip and pinch grip; 19.62±18.83N/cm/s and 6.17±3.48N/cm/s for the rate of force development; 475,21 ± 101,322N and 494,65±112,73 for the FDR; 1,37 ± 0,521s and 1,45 ± 0,824s for the time between the force onset to the TFP; and 41,27±4,54N/cm/s and 45,16 ± 5,64N/cm/s for the fall index, in the dominant hand. There was no significant difference between hands for any variable, except for the dominance of Kumi-kata (p<0.05) used in combat. Conclusion: The dominance of application of the Kumi-kata is a technical option, as it does not depend on the kinetic-temporal parameters of the handgrip.

Keywords: hand grip, judo, athletes, Kumi-Kata

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Authors: Anyia Nduka, Aslan Bin Amad Senin

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Taking a behavioral perspective of Organization Culture, Strategic Leadership, and performance (OC, SLP). We examine the role of Strategic Leadership as key vicious mechanism linking OC,SLP to the organizational capacities. Given the increasing degree of dependence of modern businesses on the use and scientific discovery of relevant data, research efforts around the entire globe have been accelerated. In today's corporate world, Strategic Leadership is still the most sustainable option of performance and competitive advantage. This is why it is critical to gain a deep understanding of research area and to strengthen new collaborative networks in efforts to support research transition towards these integrative efforts. This bibliometric analysis is aimed to examine global trends in OC,SLP research based on publication output, author co-authorships, and co-occurrences of author keywords among authors and affiliated countries. 2829 journal articles were retrieved from the Scopus database Between 1974 and 2021. From the research findings, there is a significant increase in number of publications with strong global collaboration (e.g., USA & UK). We also discovered that while most countries/territories without affiliations were centered in developing countries, the outstanding performance of Asian countries and the volume of their collaborations should be emulated.

Keywords: organizational culture, strategic leadership, organizational resilience, performance

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Authors: Muhammad Shujaat Saleem, Imamuddin

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In reply to the argument made by the non-believers of Makkah “Sale is similar to riba”, Almighty Allah ordered “Sale is permissible while riba is impermissible”. The main intent of the study was to clarify the fallacy prevailing among the Muslims that in practical terms the product of Murabaha which is being offered by the Islamic banks is similar to that of conventional interest based business loan. However, specific objective was to ascertain the degree of financial efficiency on the basis of fund/loan utilization for intended purpose of Murabaha financing vis-à-vis conventional interest based business loan. The study employed survey strategy to collect primary data through structured close ended questionnaires from the sample of 98 Murabaha officers and 178 loan officers out of the whole population of 5 Islamic and 10 conventional banks respectively. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyze the data and the same is tabulated by use of frequency tables. The study found that the financial efficiency of Murabaha financing is more than that of conventional interest based business loan by 28% as Murabaha funds of Islamic banks are utilized for its intended purpose to the extent of 97% on average, compared to 69% of business loan offered by conventional banks.

Keywords: financial efficiency, murabaha funds, loan amount, intended purpose

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Authors: Ghulam Hassan Abbasi, Moazzam Jamil, Ghazala Akhtar, M.Anwar-ul-Haq

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Heavy metals are significant pollutants in environment and their toxicity is a problem for survival of living things while salicylic acid (SA) is signaling and ubiquitous bioactive molecule that regulates cellular mechanism in plants under stress condition. Therefore, exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA) under chromium stress in two chickpea varieties were investigated in hydroponic experiment with five treatments comprising of control, 5 µM Cr + 5 mM SA, 5µM Cr + 10 mM SA, 10µM Cr + 5 mM SA, and 10µM Cr + 10 mM SA. Results revealed that treatments of plants with 10 mM SA application under both 5 µM Cr and 10 µM Cr stress resulted in maximum improvement in plant morphological attributes (root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight, membrane stability index and relative water contents) relative to 5 mM SA application in both chickpea varieties. Results regarding Cr concentration showed that Cr was more retained in roots followed by shoots and maximum reduction in Cr uptake was observed at 10 mM SA application. Chickpea variety BRC-61 showed maximum growth and least concentration of Cr in root and shoot relative to BRC-390 variety.

Keywords: chromium, Chickpea, salicylic acid, growth

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Authors: T. Kobayashi, K. Shiba, T. Kaburagi, Y. Kurihara

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For the elderly living alone, falls can be a serious problem encountered in daily life. Some elderly people are unable to stand up without the assistance of a caregiver. They may become unconscious after a fall, which can lead to serious aftereffects such as hypothermia, dehydration, and sometimes even death. We treat the subject as an inverted pendulum and model its angle from the equilibrium position and its angular velocity. As the model is non-linear, we implement the filtering method with a particle filter which can estimate true states of the non-linear model. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the particle filter estimation results, we calculate the root mean square error (RMSE) between the estimated angle/angular velocity and the true values generated by the simulation. The experimental results give the highest accuracy RMSE of 0.0141 rad and 0.1311 rad/s for the angle and angular velocity, respectively.

Keywords: fall, microwave Doppler sensor, non-linear dynamics model, particle filter

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Authors: Georgia Mills, Rachel Parsonage

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Thrombocytosis is a platelet count above the upper limit of the normal range. An urgent referral is advised for counts over 1000 x109 and if the count is between 600-1000 x109 with certain conditions/age. A non-urgent referral is warranted when the level is above 450 × 109/L (for more than 3 months) or over 600 × 109/L on at least two occasions (4–6 weeks apart) or within the range 450–600 × 109/L with other haematological abnormalities. The aim of this audit is the assess how well Roseneath's general practice has adhered to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for investigations and management of high platelet counts. Through the filtering tool on Vision, all blood results in the surgery were filtered to only show those with a platelet count above 450 x 109 /L. These patients were then analyzed individually to see where they fall on the current NICE guidance pathway for management. The investigations and management of thrombocytosis were generally poor. 60% of those who needed an urgent referral did not have it done. 30% of those who needed a follow-up blood test did not have it done. 60% of those needing a routine referral from complete investigations did not have it done. To improve the knowledge of NICE guidelines within the practice, a teaching session was delivered. Percentages then reached 100% in the 2nd audit. There is a lack of awareness of guidelines and education on thrombocytosis in primary care. Teaching sessions will benefit outcomes greatly

Keywords: platelets, thrombocytosis, management, referral

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Authors: Olha Oleshchuk

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Such companies as Apple, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Samsung are well-known, but most people do not know about their economic and political influence on society at national and international levels. This ignorance is beneficial for transnational corporations because it reduces the risk of possible resistance of the society and creates favourable conditions for the formation of a new governmental political form. The aim of the research to analyse the opportunity of creating of a new governmental political form. The aim of the research is realized by implementation of such objectives: 1) to consider the possibility of the formation of new political forms of government; 2) to determine the influence of TNCs on the state, which is necessary for a mature, aware citizen; 3) to learn the roles of TNCs, which provide the awareness in the spheres of the world politics, economics, and everyday life. The relevance of the research is confirmed by the fact that new political forms of government are poorly studied.

Keywords: objective factors of losing leading position by state, transnational corporations, TNCs' economic influence, TNCs' political influence

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Authors: Despina Giannadaki, Jos Lelieveld, Andrea Pozzer, John Evans

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Outdoor air pollution by fine particles ranks among the top ten global health risk factors that can lead to premature mortality. Epidemiological cohort studies, mainly conducted in United States and Europe, have shown that the long-term exposure to PM2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5μm) is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Fine particulates can cause health impacts even at very low concentrations. Previously, no concentration level has been defined below which health damage can be fully prevented. The World Health Organization ambient air quality guidelines suggest an annual mean PM2.5 concentration limit of 10μg/m3. Populations in large parts of the world, especially in East and Southeast Asia, and in the Middle East, are exposed to high levels of fine particulate pollution that by far exceeds the World Health Organization guidelines. The aim of this work is to evaluate the implementation of recent air quality standards for PM2.5 in the EU, the US and other countries worldwide and estimate what measures will be needed to substantially reduce premature mortality. We investigated premature mortality attributed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) under adults ≥ 30yrs and children < 5yrs, applying a high-resolution global atmospheric chemistry model combined with epidemiological concentration-response functions. The latter are based on the methodology of the Global Burden of Disease for 2010, assuming a ‘safe’ annual mean PM2.5 threshold of 7.3μg/m3. We estimate the global premature mortality by PM2.5 at 3.15 million/year in 2010. China is the leading country with about 1.33 million, followed by India with 575 thousand and Pakistan with 105 thousand. For the European Union (EU) we estimate 173 thousand and the United States (US) 52 thousand in 2010. Based on sensitivity calculations we tested the gains from PM2.5 control by applying the air quality guidelines (AQG) and standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), the EU, the US and other countries. To estimate potential reductions in mortality rates we take into consideration the deaths that cannot be avoided after the implementation of PM2.5 upper limits, due to the contribution of natural sources to total PM2.5 and therefore to mortality (mainly airborne desert dust). The annual mean EU limit of 25μg/m3 would reduce global premature mortality by 18%, while within the EU the effect is negligible, indicating that the standard is largely met and that stricter limits are needed. The new US standard of 12μg/m3 would reduce premature mortality by 46% worldwide, 4% in the US and 20% in the EU. Implementing the AQG by the WHO of 10μg/m3 would reduce global premature mortality by 54%, 76% in China and 59% in India. In the EU and US, the mortality would be reduced by 36% and 14%, respectively. Hence, following the WHO guideline will prevent 1.7 million premature deaths per year. Sensitivity calculations indicate that even small changes at the lower PM2.5 standards can have major impacts on global mortality rates.

Keywords: air quality guidelines, outdoor air pollution, particulate matter, premature mortality

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Authors: Tobias Stephan Kaeding, Rebecca Schwarz, Momme Kück, Lothar Stein

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Introduction: The goal of this randomized and controlled study is to examine whether whole-body vibration (WBV) training is able to reduce self-reported physical disability in office employees with chronic low-back pain. Materials and methods: 41 subjects (68.3% female/mean age 45.5 ± 9.1 years/mean BMI 26.6 ± 5.2) were randomly allocated to an intervention group (INT (n= 21)) or a control group (CON (n=20). The INT participated in WBV training 2.5 times per week for 3 months. The primary outcome was the change in the Roland and Morris disability questionnaire (RMQ) score over the study period. In addition, secondary outcomes included changes in the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Results: The compliance with the intervention in the INT reached a mean of 81.1% ± 31.2% with no long-lasting unwanted side effects. We found significant positive effects of 3 months of WBV training in the INT compared to the CON regarding the RMQ (p=0.027) and the ODI (p=0.002). Conclusions: WBV training seems to be an effective, safe and suitable intervention for the reduction of the self-reported physical disability in seated working employees with chronic low-back pain.

Keywords: back pain, exercise, occupational health management, vibration training

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Authors: Maria Konstadinou, Etienne Alderlieste, Anderson Peccin da Silva, Ben Arntz, Leonard van der Bijl, Wouter Verschueren

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The shear strength and compression properties of stiff Boom clay from Belgium at the depth of about 30 m has been investigated by means of cone penetration and laboratory testing. The latter consisted of index classification, constant rate of strain, direct, simple shear, and unconfined compression tests. The Boom clay samples exhibited strong swelling tendencies. The suction pressure was measured via different procedures and has been compared to the expected in-situ stress. The undrained shear strength and OCR profile determined from CPTs is not compatible with the experimental measurements, which gave significantly lower values. The observed response can be attributed to the presence of pre-existing discontinuities, as shown in microscale CT scans of the samples. The results of this study demonstrate that the microstructure of the clay prior to testing has an impact on the mechanical behaviour and can cause inconsistencies in the comparison of the laboratory test results with in-situ data.

Keywords: boom clay, laboratory testing, overconsolidation ratio, stress-strain response, swelling, undrained shear strength

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Authors: Anatoly B. Rinkevich, Eugeny A. Kuznetsov, Yuri I. Ryabkov

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Transmission of electromagnetic waves through a plate of metamaterial based on permalloy flakes and reflection from the plate is investigated. The metamaterial is prepared of permalloy flakes sized from few to 50μ placed into epoxy-amine matrix. Two series of metamaterial samples are under study with the volume portion of permalloy particles 15% and 30%. There is no direct electrical contact between permalloy particles. Microwave measurements have been carried out at frequencies of 12 to 30 GHz in magnetic fields up to 12 kOe. Sharp decrease of transmitted wave is observed under ferromagnetic resonance condition caused by absorption. Under magnetic antiresonance condition, in opposite, maximum of reflection coefficient is observed at frequencies exceeding 30 GHz. For example, for metamaterial sample with the volume portion of permalloy of 30%, the variation of reflection coefficient in magnetic field reaches 300%. These high variations are of interest to develop magnetic field driven microwave devices. Magnetic field variations of refractive index are also estimated.

Keywords: ferromagnetic resonance, magnetic antiresonance, microwave metamaterials, permalloy flakes, transmission and reflection coefficients

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Authors: Abdul-Monim Batiha, Manar AlAzzam, Mohammed ALBashtawy, Loai Tawalbeh, Ahmad Tubaishat, Fadwa N. Alhalaiqa

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Background: Obesity is the major modifiable risk factor for many chronic illnesses especially high blood pressure. Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between anthropometric indices and high blood pressure, and which one was most strongly correlated with high blood pressure in Jordanian population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total 622 students and workers from three Jordanian universities. Results: Nearly half of the participant are overweight (34.7%) and obese (15.4%) and hypertension was detected among 138 (22.2%) of the participants. Linear correlation was significant (p<0.01) between both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure for all anthropometric indices, except for A body shape index and diastolic blood pressure was significant at p< 0.05. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the influence of age and anthropometric measurements. Conclusions: The waist circumference was the only independent predictor of hypertension, showing that this simple measurement may be an importance marker of high blood pressure in Jordanian population.

Keywords: anthropometric indices, Jordan, blood pressure, cross-sectional study, obesity, hypertension, waist circumference

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Authors: Gideon J. Bonthuys, Marco van Dijk, Jay N. Bhagwan

Abstract:

Small scale hydropower used to play a very important role in the provision of energy to urban and rural areas of South Africa. The national electricity grid, however, expanded and offered cheap, coal generated electricity and a large number of hydropower systems were decommissioned. Unfortunately, large numbers of households and communities will not be connected to the national electricity grid for the foreseeable future due to high cost of transmission and distribution systems to remote communities due to the relatively low electricity demand within rural communities and the allocation of current expenditure on upgrading and constructing of new coal fired power stations. This necessitates the development of feasible alternative power generation technologies. A feasibility and implementation model was developed to assist in designing and financially evaluating small-scale hydropower (SSHP) plants. Several sites were identified using the model. The SSHP plants were designed for the selected sites and the designs for the different selected sites were priced using pricing models (civil, mechanical and electrical aspects). Following feasibility studies done on the designed and priced SSHP plants, a feasibility analysis was done and a design chart developed for future similar potential SSHP plant projects. The methodology followed in conducting the feasibility analysis for other potential sites consisted of developing cost and income/saving formulae, developing net present value (NPV) formulae, Capital Cost Comparison Ratio (CCCR) and levelised cost formulae for SSHP projects for the different types of plant installations. It included setting up a model for the development of a design chart for a SSHP, calculating the NPV, CCCR and levelised cost for the different scenarios within the model by varying different parameters within the developed formulae, setting up the design chart for the different scenarios within the model and analyzing and interpreting results. From the interpretation of the develop design charts for feasible SSHP in can be seen that turbine and distribution line cost are the major influences on the cost and feasibility of SSHP. High head, short transmission line and islanded mini-grid SSHP installations are the most feasible and that the levelised cost of SSHP is high for low power generation sites. The main conclusion from the study is that the levelised cost of SSHP projects indicate that the cost of SSHP for low energy generation is high compared to the levelised cost of grid connected electricity supply; however, the remoteness of SSHP for rural electrification and the cost of infrastructure to connect remote rural communities to the local or national electricity grid provides a low CCCR and renders SSHP for rural electrification feasible on this basis.

Keywords: cost, feasibility, rural electrification, small-scale hydropower

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Authors: Alexis John de Britto

Abstract:

Studies were performed to select the superior genotypes based on intra-specific variations, caused by phytogeographical, climatic and edaphic parameters of three anti cancer drug yielding mangrove plants such as Acanthus ilicifolius L., Calophyllum inophyllum L. and Excoecaria agallocha L. using ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) markers and phytochemical analysis such as preliminary phytochemical tests, TLC, HPTLC, HPLC and antioxidant tests. The plants were collected from five different geographical locations of the East Coast of south India. Genetic heterozygosity, Nei’s gene diversity, Shannon’s information index and Percentage of polymorphism between the populations were calculated using POPGENE software. Cluster analysis was performed using UPGMA algorithm. AMOVA and correlations between genetic diversity and soil factors were analyzed. Combining the molecular and phytochemical variations superior genotypes were selected. Conservation constraints and methods of efficient exploitation of the species are discussed.

Keywords: anti-cancer drug yielding plants, DNA fingerprinting, phytochemical analysis, selection of superior genotypes

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Nadjet Brahmia

Abstract:

The growing needs of displacements led advanced countries in this field install new specific transport systems, able to palliate any deficiencies, especially when regular public transport does not adequately meet the requests of users. In this context, on-demand transportation (ODT) are very efficient; they rely on techniques based on the location of trip generators which should be assured effectively with the use of operators responsible of the advance reservation, planning and organization, and studying the different ODT criteria (organizational, technical, geographical, etc.). As the advanced countries in the field of transport, some developing countries are involved in the adaptation of the new technologies to reduce the deficit in their communication system. This communication presents the study of an ODT implementation in the west of Algeria, by developing the Geomatics side of the study. This part requires the use of specific systems (such as GIS, RDBMS…), so we developed the process through an application in an environment of mobility by using the computer tools dedicated to the management of the entities related to the transport field.

Keywords: ODT, geomatics, GIS, transport systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 538

Authors: Felicia Kikelomo Oluwalola

Abstract:

This study examined lecturers’ perception of the roles of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Office Technology and Management (OTM) programme in polytechnics, in South-West, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted in this study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select all OTM lecturers in the nine (9) Polytechnics in the South-West, Nigeria. A 4-rating scale was adopted questionnaire titled ‘Lecturers’ Perception of the Roles of ICT in OTM Programme in Polytechnics’ with a reliability index of 0.93 was used. Two research questions were answered, and one null hypothesis was tested for the study. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that lecturers have right perception of the roles of ICT in OTM programme in polytechnics. Also, the study revealed no significant difference between the mean perception of male and female lecturers in office technology and management. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that recruitment of professionals in the field of ICT is necessary for effective teaching learning to be established and OTM curriculum should be constantly reviewed to enhance some ICT package that is acceptable globally.

Keywords: communication, information, perception, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 437