Search results for: annual and daily flow duration curve

Authors: Han Bai, Lemei Yu, Tong Zhang, Doudou Xie, Liang Zhao

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The brightness changes at highway tunnel entrance and exit have an effect on the physical and psychological conditions of drivers. It is more conducive for examining driving safety with quantitative analysis of the physical and psychological characteristics of drivers to determine the speed limit sign locations at the tunnel entrance and exit sections. In this study, the physical and psychological effects of tunnels on traffic sign recognition of drivers are analyzed; subsequently, experiments with the assistant of Eyelink-II Type eye movement monitoring system are conducted in the typical tunnels in Ji-Qing freeway and Xi-Zha freeway, to collect the data of eye movement indexes “Fixation Duration” and “Eyeball Rotating Speed”, which typically represent drivers' mental load and visual characteristics. On this basis, the paper establishes a visual recognition model for the speed limit signs at the highway tunnel entrances and exits. In combination with related standards and regulations, it further presents the recommended values for locating speed limit signs under different tunnel conditions. A case application on Panlong tunnel in Ji-Qing freeway is given to generate the helpful improvement suggestions.

Keywords: driver psychological load, eye movement index, speed limit sign location, tunnel entrance and exit

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Fatma Ahmed, Heba Mostafa, Bassem Ramdan, Azza El-Soussi

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Background: World Health Organization stated that by 2020 cardiac disease will be the number one cause of death worldwide and estimates that 25 million people per year will suffer from heart disease. Cardiac surgery is considered an effective treatment for severe forms of cardiovascular diseases that cannot be treated by medical treatment or cardiac interventions. In spite of the benefits of cardiac surgery, it is considered a major stressful experience for patients who are candidate for surgery. Prehabilitation can decrease incidences of postoperative complications as it prepares patients for surgical stress through enhancing their defenses to meet the demands of surgery. When patients anticipate the postoperative sequence of events, they will prepare themselves to act certain behaviors, identify their roles and actively participate in their own recovery, therefore, anxiety levels are decreased and functional capacity is enhanced. Prehabilitation programs can comprise interventions that include physical exercise, psychological prehabilitation, nutritional optimization and risk factor modification. Physical exercises are associated with improvements in the functioning of the various physiological systems, reflected in increased functional capacity, improved cardiac and respiratory functions and make patients fit for surgical intervention. Prehabilitation programs should also prepare patients psychologically in order to cope with stress, anxiety and depression associated with postoperative pain, fatigue, limited ability to perform the usual activities of daily living through acting in a healthy manner. Notwithstanding the benefits of psychological preparations, there are limited studies which investigated the effect of psychological prehabilitation to confirm its effect on psychological, quality of life and physiological outcomes of patients who had undergone cardiac surgery. Aim of the study: The study aims to determine the effect of prehabilitation interventions on outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac surgeries. Methods: Quasi experimental study design was used to conduct this study. Sixty eligible and consenting patients were recruited and divided into two groups: control and intervention group (30 participants in each). One tool namely emotional, physiological, clinical, cognitive and functional capacity outcomes of prehabilitation intervention assessment tool was utilized to collect the data of this study. Results: Data analysis showed significant improvement in patients' emotional state, physiological and clinical outcomes (P < 0.000) with the use of prehabilitation interventions. Conclusions: Cardiac prehabilitation in the form of providing information about surgery, circulation exercise, deep breathing exercise, incentive spirometer training and nutritional education implemented daily by patients scheduled for elective open heart surgery one week before surgery have been shown to improve patients' emotional state, physiological and clinical outcomes.

Keywords: emotional recovery, clinical recovery, coronary artery bypass grafting patients, prehabilitation

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Authors: Marcelo Hayashi, João Lima, Bruno Chieregatti, Ernani Volpe

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The adjoint method has been used as a successful tool to obtain sensitivity gradients in aerodynamic design and optimisation for many years. This work presents an alternative approach to the continuous adjoint formulation that enables one to compute gradients of a given measure of merit with respect to control parameters other than those pertaining to geometry. The procedure is then applied to the steady 2–D compressible Euler and incompressible Navier–Stokes flow equations. Finally, the results are compared with sensitivities obtained by finite differences and theoretical values for validation.

Keywords: adjoint method, aerodynamics, sensitivity theory, non-geometric sensitivities

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Authors: F. Gökgöz, M. E. Atmaca

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Electricity has an indispensable role in human daily life, technological development and economy. It is a special product or service that should be instantaneously generated and consumed. Sources of the world are limited so that effective and efficient use of them is very important not only for human life and environment but also for technological and economic development. Competitive electricity market is one of the important way that provides suitable platform for effective and efficient use of electricity. Besides benefits, it brings along some risks that should be carefully managed by a market player like Electricity Generation Company. Risk management is an essential part in market players’ decision making. In this paper, risk management through diversification is applied with the help of Value at Risk methods for case studies. Performance of optimal electricity sale solutions are measured and the portfolio performance has been evaluated via Sharpe-Ratio, and compared with conventional approach. Biennial historical electricity price data of Turkish Day Ahead Market are used to demonstrate the approach.

Keywords: electricity market, portfolio optimization, risk management, value at risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Pasan Dunuwila, V. H. L. Rodrigo, Naohiro Goto

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Sri Lanka is one the largest natural rubber (NR) producers of the world, where the NR industry is a major foreign exchange earner. Among the locally manufactured NR products, concentrated latex (CL) and ribbed smoked sheets (RSS) hold a significant position. Furthermore, these products become the foundation for many products utilized by the people all over the world (e.g. gloves, condoms, tires, etc.). Processing of CL and RSS costs a significant amount of material, energy, and workforce. With this background, both manufacturing lines have immensely challenged by waste, low productivity, lack of cost efficiency, rising cost of production, and many environmental issues. To face the above challenges, the adaptation of sustainable manufacturing measures that use less energy, water, materials, and produce less waste is imperative. However, these sectors lack comprehensive studies that shed light on such measures and thoroughly discuss their improvement potentials from both environmental and economic points of view. Therefore, based on a study of three CL and three RSS mills in Sri Lanka, this study deploys sustainable manufacturing techniques and tools to uncover the underlying potentials to improve performances in CL and RSS processing sectors. This study is comprised of three steps: 1. quantification of average material waste, economic losses, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions via material flow analysis (MFA), material flow cost accounting (MFCA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) in each manufacturing process, 2. identification of improvement options with the help of Pareto and What-if analyses, field interviews, and the existing literature; and 3. validation of the identified improvement options via the re-execution of MFA, MFCA, and LCA. With the help of this methodology, the economic and environmental hotspots, and the degrees of improvement in both systems could be identified. Results highlighted that each process could be improved to have less waste, monetary losses, manufacturing costs, and GHG emissions. Conclusively, study`s methodology and findings are believed to be beneficial for assuring the sustainable growth not only in Sri Lankan NR processing sector itself but also in NR or any other industry rooted in other developing countries.

Keywords: concentrated latex, natural rubber, ribbed smoked sheets, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Mia I. Allen, Bernard N. Johnson, Gagan Deep, Yixin Su, Sangeeta Singth, Ashish Kumar, , Michael A. Nader

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With no FDA-approved treatments for cocaine use disorders (CUD), research has focused on the behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of cocaine in animal models, with the goal of identifying novel interventions. While the majority of people with CUD also use tobacco/nicotine, the majority of preclinical cocaine research does not include the co-use of nicotine. The present study examined nicotine and cocaine co-use under several conditions of intravenous drug self-administration in monkeys. In Experiment 1, male rhesus monkeys (N=3) self-administered cocaine (0.001-0.1 mg/kg/injection) alone and cocaine+nicotine (0.01-0.03 mg/kg/injection) under a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement. When nicotine was added to cocaine, there was a significant leftward shift and significant increase in peak break point. In Experiment 2, socially housed female and male cynomolgus monkeys (N=14) self-administered cocaine under a concurrent drug-vs-food choice schedule. Combining nicotine significantly decreased cocaine choice ED50 values (i.e., shifted the cocaine dose-response curve to the left) in females but not in males. There was no evidence of social rank differences. In delay discounting studies, the co-use of nicotine and cocaine required significantly larger delays to the preferred drug reinforcer to reallocate choice compared with cocaine alone. Overall, these results suggest drug interactions of nicotine and cocaine co-use is not simply a function of potency but rather a fundamentally distinctive condition that should be utilized to better understand the neuropharmacology of CUD and the evaluation of potential treatments.

Keywords: polydrug use, animal models, nonhuman primates, behavioral pharmacology, drug self-administration

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Authors: M. J. Pourvaghar, M. E. Bahram, Sh. Khoshemehry

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Hyperlipidemia or an increase in blood lipids is a condition that has been rising, especially during the last decade, with the advancement of the life-span of the car, as an important disease. In fact, it is one of the complications of industrial life and semi-industrial. Hyperlipidemia alone is not a disease, but it is recognized as an important risk factor for coronary artery disease. The methodology of this review article is the use of research to provide the best solution for physical activity and exercise in relation to lowering blood lipids and lowering blood pressure. Also, factors that contribute to improving the health status of humans should be introduced. Research findings in this article show that physical activity with a specific duration and severity can keep a person away from the cardiovascular disease. The result shows that regular physical activity with low intensity and long periods of time is essential for human health. Physical mobility reduces blood pressure, reduces the harmful fats and does not cause cardiovascular disease. More than half of the patients suffering from cardiovascular problems are afflicted with blood lipids. On the other hand, high blood pressure is one of the serious health hazards in the world today, which causes a large number of cardiovascular problems and mortality in the world. Undoubtedly, the second most common risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure after cigarette smoking.

Keywords: blood pressure, cardiovascular, hyperlipidemia, risk factor

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Authors: Morteza Hadi

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This research investigates the potential enhancement of the rollability of Cu-Ge-Ni alloy through the mitigation of microstructural and compositional inhomogeneities via two distinct heat treatment methods: homogenization and solution treatment. To achieve this objective, the alloy with the desired composition was fabricated using a vacuum arc remelting furnace (VAR), followed by sample preparation for microstructural, compositional, and heat treatment analyses at varying temperatures and durations. Characterization was conducted employing optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Vickers hardness testing. The results obtained indicate that a minimum duration of 10 hours is necessary for adequate homogenization of the alloy at 750°C. This heat treatment effectively removes coarse dendrites from the casting microstructure and significantly reduces elemental separations. However, despite these improvements, the presence of a second phase with markedly different hardness from the matrix results in poor rolling ability for the alloy. The optimal time for solution treatment at various temperatures was determined, with the most effective cycle identified as 750°C for 2 hours, followed by rapid quenching in water. This process induces the formation of a single-phase microstructure and complete elimination of the second  phase, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Results demonstrate a reduction in hardness by 30 Vickers, and the elimination of microstructural unevenness enables successful thickness reduction by up to 50% through rolling without encountering cracking.

Keywords: Cu-Ge-Ni alloy, homogenization. solution treatment, rollability

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Authors: Seyed M. Khatami, H. Naderpour, R. Vahdani, R. C. Barros

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Many previous studies have been carried out to calculate the impact force and the dissipated energy between two neighboring buildings during seismic excitation, when they collide with each other. Numerical studies are an important part of impact, which several researchers have tried to simulate the impact by using different formulas. Estimation of the impact force and the dissipated energy depends significantly on some parameters of impact. Mass of bodies, stiffness of spring, coefficient of restitution, damping ratio of dashpot and impact velocity are some known and unknown parameters to simulate the impact and measure dissipated energy during collision. Collision is usually shown by force-displacement hysteresis curve. The enclosed area of the hysteresis loop explains the dissipated energy during impact. In this paper, the effect of using different types of impact models is investigated in order to calculate the impact force. To increase the accuracy of impact model and to optimize the results of simulations, a new damping equation is assumed and is validated to get the best results of impact force and dissipated energy, which can show the accuracy of suggested equation of motion in comparison with other formulas. This relation is called "n-m". Based on mathematical relation, an initial value is selected for the mentioned coefficients and kinetic energy loss is calculated. After each simulation, kinetic energy loss and energy dissipation are compared with each other. If they are equal, selected parameters are true and, if not, the constant of parameters are modified and a new analysis is performed. Finally, two unknown parameters are suggested to estimate the impact force and calculate the dissipated energy.

Keywords: impact force, dissipated energy, kinetic energy loss, damping relation

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Authors: Timothy E. Frank, Josh R. Aldred, Sophie B. Boulware, Michelle K. Cabonce, Justin H. White

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Materials degrade at different rates in different environments depending on factors such as temperature, aridity, salinity, and solar radiation. Therefore, predicting asset longevity depends, in part, on the environmental conditions to which the asset is exposed. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are critical to building operations yet are responsible for a significant proportion of their energy consumption. HVAC energy use increases substantially with slight operational inefficiencies. Understanding the environmental influences on HVAC degradation in detail will inform maintenance schedules and capital investment, reduce energy use, and increase lifecycle management efficiency. HVAC inspection records spanning 14 years from 21 locations across the United States were compiled and associated with the climate conditions to which they were exposed. Three environmental features were explored in this study: average high temperature, average low temperature, and annual precipitation, as well as four non-environmental features. Initial insights showed no correlations between individual features and the rate of HVAC component degradation. Using neighborhood component analysis, however, the most critical features related to degradation were identified. Two models were considered, and results varied between them. However, longitude and latitude emerged as potentially the best predictors of average HVAC component degradation. Further research is needed to evaluate additional environmental features, increase the resolution of the environmental data, and develop more robust models to achieve more conclusive results.

Keywords: climate, degradation, HVAC, neighborhood component analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Doki Naomi Onyeje, Doki Gowon Ama

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The past 4 years have been traumatic for Nigerians, having to deal with a number of complex economic issues with dire consequences for the economy. Households have had to respond variously to some of these problems in peculiar ways, depending, of course, on the nature and character of a particular shock. The type, magnitude, intensity and duration of a particular shock might be the determinant of different household responses. While households’ responses to the Global Financial Crisis and Covid 19 Pandemic have been documented by researchers, other economic shocks have continued to emerge in Nigeria. The dramatic turn of events since coming on board of the new government on May 29th 2023, has introduced a new economic twist that households will have to adjust to. This study, therefore, sets out to examine household responses by disaggregating them by their livelihood sources. A survey of 420 households across North Central Nigeria will be done to generate information on the respective responses. A Multinomial logit regression analysis will be employed to test the hypothesis that livelihood source(s) influences household responses to economic shocks. Consequently, responses from public and private households will be examined. The expected results should be that household responses might have some similarities, but it is expected that some peculiar responses across groups will emerge and these differences will guide for group-specific interventions. The Theatre for Development (TfD) approach will be used to disseminate and propagate results from this study to and among stakeholders for effective policy frameworks.

Keywords: drama, dynamics, economic shocks, household responses, Nigeria

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Authors: Lyton Chithambo

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This paper reports the results of an investigation into the extent to which various stakeholder pressures influence voluntary disclosure of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in the United Kingdom (UK). The study, which is grounded on institutional theory, also borrows from the insights of upper echelons theory and examines whether specific managerial (chief executive officer) characteristics explain and moderates various stakeholder pressures in explaining GHG voluntary disclosure. Data were obtained from the 2011 annual and sustainability reports of a sample of 216 UK companies on the FTSE350 index listed on the London Stock Exchange. Generally the results suggest that there is no substantial shareholder and employee pressure on a firm to disclose GHG information but there is significant positive pressure from the market status of a firm with those firms with more market share disclosing more GHG information. Consistent with the predictions of institutional theory, we found evidence that coercive pressure i.e. regulatory pressure and mimetic pressures emanating in some industries notably industrials and consumer services have a significant positive influence on firms’ GHG disclosure decisions. Besides, creditor pressure also had a significant negative relationship with GHG disclosure. While CEO age had a direct negative effect on GHG voluntary disclosure, its moderation effect on stakeholder pressure influence on GHG disclosure was only significant on regulatory pressure. The results have important implications for both policy makers and company boards strategizing to reign in their GHG emissions.

Keywords: greenhouse gases, voluntary disclosure, upper echelons theory, institution theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Ayoola, Simeon Oluwatoyin, Omogoriola Hannah Omoloye

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The effects of 17α-Methyltestosterone Hormone on blood composition of the Sex Reversed Sarotherodon melanotheron were investigated. S. melanotheron fry were reared in six (6) plastic tanks for three (3) months, of which three (3) tanks served as treatment tanks while the other three (3) served as the control. The fry were fed with 17α-methyl testosterone enzyme, which functions as a sex reversal hormone. The fry were administered this hormone for 30 days, to ensure complete sex reversal. All the S. melanotheron fry were reared to table size for duration of three (3) months, after which, blood samples were taken from both the control and treatment fishes. The blood parameters showed no significant differences with the same values of White Blood Cell count (WBC) and Total plasma protein for the control and experimental fishes. A total protein value for sex reversed specimens was 3.99g/dL, while urea and creatinine values were 0.2g/dL. Alkaline Phosphatase, Aspartate transaminase and Alanine transaminase for the treatment specimen were 183nm/mg protein/min, 98nm/mg protein/min and 105nm/mg protein/min respectively. A total protein value for control specimens was 2.81g/dL, while urea and creatinine values were 0.2g/dL. Alkaline Phosphatase, Aspartate transaminase and Alanine transaminase for the control species were 174nm/mg protein/min, 93nm/mg protein/min and 106nm/mg protein/min respectively. The safety of MT on S. melanotheron is therefore proved since there is no adverse effect on the fish.

Keywords: 17α-Methyltestosterone, haematology, sex reversal, sarotherodon melanotheron

Procedia PDF Downloads 487

Authors: Anna Avramenko, Heikki Haario

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This paper reports the development and application of a 2D depth-averaged model. The main goal of this contribution is to apply the depth averaged equations to a wind park model in which the treatment of the geometry, introduced on the mathematical model by the mass and momentum source terms. The depth-averaged model will be used in future to find the optimal position of wind turbines in the wind park. K-E and 2D LES turbulence models were consider in this article. 2D CFD simulations for one hill was done to check the depth-averaged model in practise.

Keywords: depth-averaged equations, numerical modeling, CFD, wind park model

Procedia PDF Downloads 599

Authors: E. Keramaris

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In this study, laboratory experiments in open channel flows over a sand bed were conducted. A porous bed (sand bed) with porosity of ε=0.70 and porous thickness of s΄=3 cm was tested. Vertical distributions of velocity were evaluated by using a two-dimensional (2D) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Velocity profiles are measured above the impermeable bed and above the sand bed for the same different total water heights (h= 6, 8, 10 and 12 cm) and for the same slope S=1.5. Measurements of mean velocity indicate the effects of the bed material used (sand bed) on the flow characteristics (Velocity distribution and Reynolds number) in comparison with those above the impermeable bed.

Keywords: particle image velocimetry, sand bed, velocity distribution, Reynolds number

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Authors: Dale Dzemydiene, Aurelija Burinskiene, Arunas Miliauskas, Kristina Ciziuniene

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Data flow and the purpose of reporting the data are different and dependent on business needs. Different parameters are reported and transferred regularly during freight delivery. This business practices form the dataset constructed for each time point and contain all required information for freight moving decisions. As a significant amount of these data is used for various purposes, an integrating methodological approach must be developed to respond to the indicated problem. The proposed methodology contains several steps: (1) collecting context data sets and data validation; (2) multi-objective analysis for optimizing freight transfer services. For data validation, the study involves Grubbs outliers analysis, particularly for data cleaning and the identification of statistical significance of data reporting event cases. The Grubbs test is often used as it measures one external value at a time exceeding the boundaries of standard normal distribution. In the study area, the test was not widely applied by authors, except when the Grubbs test for outlier detection was used to identify outsiders in fuel consumption data. In the study, the authors applied the method with a confidence level of 99%. For the multi-objective analysis, the authors would like to select the forms of construction of the genetic algorithms, which have more possibilities to extract the best solution. For freight delivery management, the schemas of genetic algorithms' structure are used as a more effective technique. Due to that, the adaptable genetic algorithm is applied for the description of choosing process of the effective transportation corridor. In this study, the multi-objective genetic algorithm methods are used to optimize the data evaluation and select the appropriate transport corridor. The authors suggest a methodology for the multi-objective analysis, which evaluates collected context data sets and uses this evaluation to determine a delivery corridor for freight transfer service in the multi-modal transportation network. In the multi-objective analysis, authors include safety components, the number of accidents a year, and freight delivery time in the multi-modal transportation network. The proposed methodology has practical value in the management of multi-modal transportation processes.

Keywords: multi-objective, analysis, data flow, freight delivery, methodology

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Authors: Mestawot Beyene Tafese, Erika Kopp

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Sustainable development, aimed at meeting current needs while safeguarding the needs of future generations, is a global imperative. Higher education stands as a pivotal force in fostering sustainable values and behaviors. However, most scholars and governments primarily focus on environmental and economic aspects. Consequently, this study examines the distribution patterns of higher education for social sustainability. The study highlights overall annual scientific production trends, leading journals and countries in scientific publication, most researched topics, and frequently used keywords. The study utilized a bibliometric method with the aid of the R Studio program. The analysis reveals Sustainability (Switzerland) as the leading journal, with 292 articles published, followed by the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, which published 186 articles. Additionally, the USA is identified as the leading country, with Spain ranking second in producing research related to higher education for socially sustainable development. Among the 54 African countries, only South Africa ranks 13th, contributing fifty-nine scientific articles. Furthermore, higher education for sustainability, sustainable education, sustainable development goals, etc., emerge as the most researched topics, while the term "higher education" is prevalent in 29% and "sustainability" in 28% of the documents. Notably, according to the analysis, social sustainability is the focus of only 3% of articles. This suggests that academics researching sustainable development and higher education have overlooked social sustainability, a crucial human component of sustainable development. Consequently, the researchers concluded that social academics who are interested in studying sustainable development and higher education should give priority to social sustainability.

Keywords: higher education, bibliometric analysis, social sustainability, sustainable development

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Authors: Rina Yadav, Lih-Yau Song

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The claim for elderly care center has increased enormously with the world demographic revolution as the number of senior citizens increased in the 21st century. As per the world progress into contemporaneousness, a large number of people are engaged in daily routine to bring about the senior citizens to lose the care that they in fact need. New design suggestions have been made on the basis of available guidelines and two case studies in Taiwan. Interior design can provide positive and sensory stimulation through memory stimulation, and by creating a friendly and comfortable environment for demented older people, which can reduce patient anxiety and reduce stress on caregivers. This report pursues to reveal the better design of an elderly care center with a new tactic in a direction to offer better service for demented elderly people which could upraise their living standard.

Keywords: daycare center, dementia patients, interior designing, older adults

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Sheila R. Pai, N. K. Subbalakshmi, C. Vidya

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Background: Accumulating evidence from prospective studies suggests an increased risk of type 2 diabetes associated with sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. Shift work by disrupting the circadian rhythm, could possibly cause metabolic disturbances. Objective: To investigate the influence of shift work on fasting blood glucose in hospital workers population. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including 90 night shift workers (study group) and 90 day workers (controls) drawn from paramedical personnel. Night shift work was on a forward rotation basis, with an average of one night shift every 4 weeks. Each night shift rotation was for a period of 7 days, with a total of 8 hours of shift work per night. In the entire subjects body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) was measured. Statistical analysis included unpaired t test, Mann-Whitney ‘U’ test and Chi-square test. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Result: The study and control groups were comparable with regard to age, sex distribution and duration of employment. FBS was higher in study group compared to controls (p < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in BMI between control and study group. Conclusion: Shift work may adversely influence glucose metabolism.

Keywords: shift work, fasting blood sugar, sleep disturbances, diabetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: A. Alsoqeer

Abstract:

The establishment, dry matter production and feeding value of six perennial grasses were measured over two growing seasons in a field experiments. The experiments were conducted at the Agricultural and Veterinary Medicine Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2009 and 2010 seasons. The six perennial grasses were: creeping bluegrass (Bothriochloa insculpta cv. Bisset), digit grass (Digitaria smutsi), Jarra digit grass (Digitaria milanjiana), panic (Panicum coloratum cv. Bambatsii), Sabi grass (Urochloa mosambicensis) and setaria (Setaria sphacelata cv. Kazungula). The experimental design used was a completely randomized block design with four replications. The results revealed significant differences among plant species of all agronomic characters and quality traits in the first year, while in the second year, plant species differed significantly for quality traits only. D. smutsi had a superior performance for all agronomic characters, however, it had the lowest values in protein content in the two years comparing with other genotypes. D. milanjiana and U. mosambicensis showed high values in dry matter yield and protein content in the first year, but showed a very poor performance in the second year because most of plants were die due to the low temperatures in the winter. These two species appear to be suitable for annual cultivation. The other species tolerate the cold winter and were a highly productive in the second year.

Keywords: dry mater yield, grass species, cuts, quality traits, crude protein content

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Nawal A. Abu-Shady, Ibrahim M. I. Hamoda, Ahmed R. Z. Baghdadi, Mohammed K. Mohamed

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Background: The aim of this work was to investigate the efficacy of Transcranial Magnetic Therapy (TMT) on balance in hemiparetic stroke patients. It was conducted in outpatient clinic and in BIODEX balance system lab in Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University. Subjects and Methods: Thirty hemiparetic stroke patients from both sexes represent the sample of this study. The patients' ages ranged from 45 to 55 years. They were assigned randomly into two equal groups; the study group (GA) and the control group (GB). control group treated by selected therapeutic physical therapy program. GA treated by the same program of treatment as the GB in addition to TMT. The duration of treatment was six weeks, three times weekly.day after day. The different aspects of dynamic balance (overall stability, anteroposterior stability and mediolateral stability indices) were assessed pre and post treatment objectively by Biodex balance system and clinically by Short Form of Berg Balance Scale (SFBBS) in both groups. Results: Comparison of each variable pre and post treatment in each group revealed a significant improvement in all different parameters in both groups ( p < 0.01), however comparison between post results revealed that the GA showed a high significant improvement higher than the GB in all different variables.

Keywords: stroke, TMT, SFBBS, biodex balance system

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Authors: C. E. Nugraheni, L. Abednego

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This paper is concerned with minimization of mean tardiness and flow time in a real single machine production scheduling problem. Two variants of genetic algorithm as meta-heuristic are combined with hyper-heuristic approach are proposed to solve this problem. These methods are used to solve instances generated with real world data from a company. Encouraging results are reported.

Keywords: hyper-heuristics, evolutionary algorithms, production scheduling, meta-heuristic

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: A. Bouhaloufa, T. Kadri, S. Zouaoui, A. Belhacene

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To put more durable bridges, it is important to maintain existing structures, rather than investing in new structures. Instead of demolishing the old bridge and replace them with new, we must preserve and upgrade using better methods of diagnosis, auscultation and repair, the interest of this work is to increase the bearing capacity bridges damaged by additional prestressing, this type of reinforcement is growing continuously. In addition to excellent static strength, prestressing also has a very high resistance to fatigue, so it is suitable to solve the problem of failure of the bearing capacity of the bridges. This failure often comes to the development of overloads in quantity and quality, that is our daily traffic has increased and become very complicated, on the other hand its constituents are advanced in weight and speed and therefore almost all old bridges became unable to support the movement of the latter and remain disabled to all these problems. The main purpose of this work includes the following three aspects: - Determination of the main diseases and factors affecting the deterioration of bridges in Algeria, - Evaluation of the bearing capacity of bridges, - Proposal technical reinforcement to improve the bearing capacity of a degraded structure.

Keywords: bridges, repair, auscultation, diagnosis, pathology, additional prestressing

Procedia PDF Downloads 608

Authors: Mohd Faridz Ahmad, Muhammad Amir Asyraf Rosli

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Aerobic dance has becoming a popular mode of exercise especially among women due to its fun nature. With a catchy music background and joyful dance steps, aerobic dancers would be able to have fun while sweating out. Depending on its level of aggressiveness, aerobic may also improve and maintain cardiorespiratory fitness other than being a great tool for weight loss. This study intends to prove that aerobic dance activity can bring the same, if not better impacts on health than other types of cardiovascular exercise such as jogging and cycling. The objective of this study was to evaluate and identify the effect of six weeks aerobic dance on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss among women. This study, which was held in Seremban Fit Challenge, used a quasi-experimental design. The subjects selected include a total of 14 women (n = 14) with age (32.4 years old ± 9.1), weight (65.93 kg ± 11.24) and height (165.36 ± 3.46) who joined the Seremban Fit Challenge Season 13. The subjects were asked to join an aerobic dance class with duration of one hour for six weeks in a row. As for the outcome, cardiovascular fitness was measured with a 1-mile run test while any changes on weight was measured using the weighing scale. The result showed that there was a significant difference between pre and post-test for cardiovascular fitness when p = 0.02 < 0.05 and weight loss when p = 0.00 < 0.05. In conclusion, a six-week long aerobic dance program would have a positive effect on cardiovascular fitness and weight. Therefore, aerobic dance may be used as an alternative tool for people who wish to lead a healthy lifestyle in a fun way.

Keywords: aerobic dance, cardiovascular fitness, weight loss, 1-mile run test

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Authors: Dulani Jayasuriya

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This study outlines the developmental steps of a chatbot for administrative purposes of a large undergraduate course. The chatbot is able to handle student queries about administrative details, including assessment deadlines, course documentation, how to navigate the course, group formation, etc. The development window screenshots are that of a free account on the Snatchbot platform such that this can be adopted by the wider public. While only one connection to an answer based on possible keywords is shown here, one needs to develop multiple connections leading to different answers based on different keywords for the actual chatbot to function. The overall flow of the chatbot showing connections between different interactions is depicted at the end.

Keywords: chatbots, education, technology, snatch bot, artificial intelligence

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Authors: A. Majczak, G. Baranski, K. Pietrykowski

Abstract:

Due to the growing popularity of light aircraft, it has become necessary to develop aircraft engines for this type of construction. One of engine system, designed to increase efficiency and reduce weight, is the engine with opposed pistons. In such an engine, the combustion chamber is formed by two pistons moving in one cylinder. Therefore, this type of engines run in a two-stroke cycle, so they have many advantages such as high power and torque, high efficiency, or a favorable power-to-weight ratio. Tests of one of the available aircraft engines with opposing piston system fueled with diesel oil were carried out on an engine dynamometer equipped with an eddy current brake and the necessary measuring and testing equipment. In order to get to know the basic parameters of the engine, the tests were carried out under partial load conditions for the following torque values: 40, 60, 80, 100 Nm. The rotational speed was changed from 1600 to 2500 rpm. Measurements were also taken for designated points of propeller characteristics. During the tests, the engine torque, engine power, fuel consumption, intake manifold pressure, and oil pressure were recorded. On the basis of the measurements carried out for particular loads, the power curve, hourly and specific fuel consumption curves were determined. Characteristics of charge pressure as a function of rotational speed as well as power, torque, hourly and specific fuel consumption curves for propeller characteristics were also prepared. The obtained characteristics make it possible to select the optimal points of engine operation.

Keywords: aircraft, diesel, engine testing, opposed piston

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Authors: Emrah Yaliniz, Ali Kalkanli

Abstract:

ZE41A magnesium alloy has been extensively used in aerospace industry, especially for use in rotorcraft transmission casings. Due to the improved mechanical properties, the latest generation of magnesium casting alloy EV31A-T6 (Elektron 21® specified in AMS 4429) is seen as a potential replacement for ZE41A in terms of strength. Therefore, the necessity of enhancement has been arisen for ZE41A in order to avoid fully replacement. The main element affecting the strength of ZE41A is Zirconium (Zr), which acts as a grain refiner. The specified range of Zr element for ZE41A alloy is between 0.4 wt % and 1.0 wt % (unless otherwise stated by weight percentage after this point) as stated in AMS 4439. This paper investigates the effects of Zr amount on tensile and metallurgical properties of ZE41A magnesium alloy. The Zr alloying amount for the research has been chosen as 0.5 % and 1 %, which are standard amounts in a commercial alloy (average of 0.4-0.6%) and maximum percent in the standard, separately. 1 % Zr amount has been achieved via Zirmax (66.7 Mg-33.3 Zr) master alloy addition. The ultimate tensile strength of ZE41A with 1% Zr has been increased up to about 220-225 MPa in comparison to 200 MPa given in AMS 4439. The reason for the increase in strength with the addition of Zirmax is based on the decrease in grain size, which was measured about 30 µm. Optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were used to detect the change in the microstructural futures via alloying. The zirconium rich coring at the center of the grains was observed in addition to the grain boundary intermetallic phases and bulk Mg-rich matrix. The solidification characteristics were also identified by using the cooling curve obtained from the sand casting mold during cooling of the alloys.

Keywords: aerospace, grain refinement, magnesium, sand casting, ZE41A

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Authors: Amir Moslemi, Amir movafeghi, Shahab Moradi

Abstract:

One of the most important challenging factors in medical images is nominated as noise.Image denoising refers to the improvement of a digital medical image that has been infected by Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN). The digital medical image or video can be affected by different types of noises. They are impulse noise, Poisson noise and AWGN. Computed tomography (CT) images are subjected to low quality due to the noise. The quality of CT images is dependent on the absorbed dose to patients directly in such a way that increase in absorbed radiation, consequently absorbed dose to patients (ADP), enhances the CT images quality. In this manner, noise reduction techniques on the purpose of images quality enhancement exposing no excess radiation to patients is one the challenging problems for CT images processing. In this work, noise reduction in CT images was performed using two different directional 2 dimensional (2D) transformations; i.e., Curvelet and Contourlet and Discrete wavelet transform(DWT) thresholding methods of BayesShrink and AdaptShrink, compared to each other and we proposed a new threshold in wavelet domain for not only noise reduction but also edge retaining, consequently the proposed method retains the modified coefficients significantly that result in good visual quality. Data evaluations were accomplished by using two criterions; namely, peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and Structure similarity (Ssim).

Keywords: computed tomography (CT), noise reduction, curve-let, contour-let, signal to noise peak-peak ratio (PSNR), structure similarity (Ssim), absorbed dose to patient (ADP)

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Authors: H. Soltani, Kevin Laugero

Abstract:

Obesity is becoming an increasingly critical issue in the United States due to the steady and substantial increase in prevalence over the last 30 years. Existing interventions have been able to help participants achieve short-term weight loss, but have failed to show long-term results. The complex nature of behavioral change remains one of the most difficult barriers in promoting sustainable weight-loss in overweight individuals. Research suggests that the 'intention-behavior gap' can be explained by a person’s ability to regulate higher-order thinking, or Executive Function (EF). A review of 63 research articles was completed in fall of 2017 to identify the role of EF in regulating eating behavior and to identify whether there is a potential for improving dietary quality by enhancing EF. Results showed that poor EF is positively associated with obesogenic behavior, namely increased consumption of highly palatable foods, eating in the absence of hunger, high saturated fat intake and low fruit and vegetable consumption. Recent research has indicated that interventions targeting an improvement in EF can be successful in helping promote healthy behaviors. Furthermore, interventions of longer duration have a more lasting and versatile effect on weight loss and maintenance. This may present an opportunity for the increasingly ubiquitous use of mobile application technology.

Keywords: eating behavior, executive function, nutrition, obesity, weight-loss

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Abdul Razzaq Azad

Abstract:

It is known that every human society throughout the world and throughout history, the various religions and their theologies, ethics, and traditions influence everything in their life, shaping socio-economic and political ideas, attitudes and institutions. It is observed that religious teachings and traditions shape how people respond to each other in their daily social inter-course and interaction in the community at large. The majorities of us preserves and protect our own religious beliefs and traditions as generally they symbolize our essential identities, theologically, historically, culturally, socially, and even politically. Our religious faiths symbolize our dignity as persons and our very souls as communities and individuals. It thus goes without saying that in our multi racial and multi religious society, the only way for us to live in peace and harmony is for us to live in peaceful co-existence. It is important for us to recognize, understand, accept and respect each other regardless of our respective belief. The history of interfaith is as ancient as the religions since men and women when not at war with their neighbors have always made an effort to understand them (not least because understanding is a strategy for defense, but also because for as long as there is dialogue wars are delayed).

Keywords: interfaith harmony, world piece order, Islam, religions, lightness,

Procedia PDF Downloads 620