Search results for: restructuringbuilding information modeling

Authors: J. Vasauskaite

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From the perspective of Lithuanian furniture enterprises, the role of energy efficiency is significant as it leads to direct economic benefits, increased competitiveness and higher productivity. There are various possible improvements in energy efficiency in industry: changes in the production process, investment in R&D, implementation of energy-saving technologies or energy management systems. The research aims to contribute the understanding of energy efficiency importance in industry by presenting possible improvements of energy use in different manufacturing process of enterprises. The evaluation methodology included quantitative and qualitative research methods: the comparative and statistical analysis of primary and secondary sources of information. This paper provides the detailed analysis of the energy efficiency development opportunities and challenges in Lithuanian furniture industry. The results of the study show the importance of technological innovations, energy efficiency policies and environmental management strategies in developing energy efficiency within the wood and furniture industry. The analysis of energy efficiency development in Lithuanian furniture industry showed that the industrial activities are influenced by various internal and external factors such as increasing flows of products, human resources and overall management decisions; dynamic growth and increasing competition; emerging need for environmental information. In the light of these factors, Lithuanian furniture industry has undergone significant changes – restructuring, technological advances and business model innovations, allowing it to be more export-oriented and focus on upgrading quality, design and innovation.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy policy, furniture industry, technological innovation

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Authors: Md. Kabir Azaharul Islam

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Background: The purpose of this interventions was to describe the source and extent to increase health seeking rights and uptake of quality integrated maternal health, family planning and HIV information, clinical-non clinical services, and commodities amongst young people age 10-24 among brothel based Female Sex Worker’s in Bangladesh. Such Knowledge will equip with information to develop more appropriate and effective interventions that address the problem of HIV/AIDS and SRHR within the brothel based female sex worker’s community. Methods: Before start the intervention we observed situation in brothel and identify lack of knowledge about health issues, modern health facility, sexual harassment and violence & health rights. To enable access to the intervention obtained permission from a series of stakeholders within the brothel system. This intervention to the most vulnerable young key people during January 2014 to December, 2015, it designed an intervention that focuses on using peer education and sensitization meeting with self help group leader’s, pimbs, swardarni, house owner, local leaders, law enforcement agencies and target young key people (YKPs) through peer educator’s distributed BCC materials and conducted one to one and group session issues of HIV/AIDS, life skill education, maternal health, sexual reproductive health & rights, gender based violence, STD/STI and drug users in the community. Set up community based satellite clinic to provided clinical-non clinical services and commodities for SRH, FP and HIV including general health among brothel based FSWs. Peer educator frequently move and informed target beneficiaries’ age 10-24 YKPs about satellite clinic as well as time & date in the community. Results: This intervention highly promotes of brothel based FSW utilization of local facility based health providers private and public health facilities.2400 FSWs age 10-24 received information on SRHR, FP and HIV as well as existing health facilities, most of FSWs to received service from traditional healer before intervention. More than 1080 FSWs received clinical-non clinical services and commodities from satellite clinic including 12 ANC, 12 PNC and 25 MR. Most of young FSW age 10-24 are treated bonded girls under swardarni, house owner and pimbs, they have no rights to free movement as per need. As a result, they have no rights for free movement. However the brothel self help group (SHG) has become sensitized flowing this intervention. Conclusions: The majority of female sex workers well being regarding information on SRHR, FP and HIV as well as local health facilities now they feel free to go outside facilities for better health service. not only increased FSWs’ vulnerability to HIV infection and sexual reproductive health rights but also had huge implications for their human rights. This means that even when some clients impinged FSW’s rights (for example avoiding payment for services under the pretext of dissatisfaction), they might not be able to seek redress for fear of being ejected from the brothel. They raise voice national & local level different forum.

Keywords: ANC, HIV, PNC, SRHR

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Authors: Nadia Allouache

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Energy conservation is one of the major concerns in the modern high tech era due to the limited amount of energy resources and the increasing cost of energy. Predicting an efficient use of energy in thermal systems like heat exchangers can only be achieved if the second law of thermodynamics is accounted for. The performance of heat exchangers can be substantially improved by many passive heat transfer augmentation techniques. These letters permit to improve heat transfer rate and to increase exchange surface, but on the other side, they also increase the friction factor associated with the flow. This raises the question of how to employ these passive techniques in order to minimize the useful energy. The objective of this present study is to use a porous substrate attached to the walls as a passive enhancement technique in heat exchangers and to find the compromise between the hydrodynamic and thermal performances under turbulent flow conditions, by using a second law approach. A modified k- ε model is used to simulating the turbulent flow in the porous medium and the turbulent shear flow is accounted for in the entropy generation equation. A numerical modeling, based on the finite volume method is employed for discretizing the governing equations. Effects of several parameters are investigated such as the porous substrate properties and the flow conditions. Results show that under certain conditions of the porous layer thickness, its permeability, and its effective thermal conductivity the minimum rate of entropy production is obtained.

Keywords: second law approach, annular heat exchanger, turbulent flow, porous medium, modified model, numerical analysis

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Authors: Digdem M. Siyez, Bariscan Ozturk, Erol Esen, Ender Siyez, Yelda Kagnici, Bahar Baran

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Infertility is a reproductive disease identified with the absence of pregnancy after regular unprotected sexual intercourse that has been lasting for 12 months or more. Some of the factors that cause infertility, which has been considered as a social and societal issue since the first days of the humankind, are preventable. These are veneral diseases, age, the frequency of the intercourse and its timing, drug use, bodyweight, environmental and professional conditions. Having actual information about the reproductive health is essential to take protective and preventive measures, and it is accepted as the most effective way to reduce the rate of infertility. However, during the literature review, it has been observed that there are so few studies that focus on the prevention of the infertility. The aim of this study is to develop a psycho-education program to reduce infertility among university students and also to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. It is believed that this program will increase the information level about infertility among the university students, help them to adopt healthy attitudes, develop life skills, create awareness about the risk factors and also contribute to the literature. Throughout the study, first, the contents of sexual/reproductive health programs developed for university students were examined by the researches. Besides, “Views about Reproductive Health Psycho-education Program Survey” was developed and applied to 10221 university students from 21 universities. In accordance with the literature and the university students’ views about reproductive health psycho-education program consisting of 9 sessions each of which lasts for 90 minutes was developed. The pilot program was carried out with 16 volunteer undergraduate students attending to a state university. During the evaluation of the pilot study, at the end of each session “Session Evaluation Form” and at the end of the entire program “Program Evaluation Form” were administered to the participants. Besides, one week after the end of the program, a focus group with half of the group, and individual interviews with the rest were conducted. Based on the evaluations, it was determined that the session duration is enough, the teaching methods meet the expectation, the techniques applied are appropriate and clear, and the materials are adequate. Also, an extra session was added to psycho-education program based on the feedbacks of the participants. In order to evaluate program’s effectiveness, Solomon control group design will be used. According to this design, the research has 2 experiment groups and 2 control groups. The participants who voluntarily participated in the research after the announcement of the psycho-education program were divided into experiment and control groups. In the experiment 1 and control 1 groups, “Personal Information Test”, “Infertility Information Test” and “Infertility Attitude Scale”, “Self Identification Inventory” and “Melbourne Decision Scale” were administered as a preliminary test. Currently, at the present stage, psycho-education still continues. After this 10-week program, the same tests will be administered again as the post-tests. The decision upon which statistical method will be applied in the analysis will be made afterwards according to whether the data meets the presuppositions or not.

Keywords: infertility, prevention, psycho-education, reproductive health

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Authors: Desmond Chinedu Oparaku, Emmanuel Uwazie Anyanwu, Oyemike Victor Benson, Ogbonna Isaac-Nnadimele

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The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical discourse that highlights the challenges associated with management of indigenous knowledge with reference to developing countries. Literature review and brainstorming were used to collect relevant data and draw inferences. The findings indicate that non-existence of indigenous knowledge management policy (IKMP), low level of partnership drive among library and information services providers, non-uniformity of format and content of indigenous knowledge, inadequate funding, and lack of access to ICTs, lack of indigenous people with indigenous expertise and hoarding of knowledge as challenges to indigenous knowledge management. The study is based on literature review and information gathered through brain storming with professional colleagues the geographic scope as developing countries. The study has birth several implication based on the findings made. Professionally, it has necessitated the need for formulating a viable indigenous knowledge management policy (IKMP), creating of collaborative network through partnership, and integration of ICTs to indigenous knowledge management practices by libraries in developing countries etc. The originality of this paper is revealed in its capability as serving as an eye opener to librarians on the need for preserving and managing indigenous knowledge in developing countries. It further unlocks the possibilities of exploring empirical based researches to substantiate the theoretical issues raised in this paper. The findings may be used by library managers to improve indigenous knowledge management (IKM).

Keywords: developing countries, ICTs, indigenous knowledge, knowledge management

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Authors: Esther Pearl Palmer

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Driven by the increased pressure on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to produce work-ready graduates for the modern world of work, this study reflects on triad teaching and learning practices to increase student engagement and employability. In the South African higher education context, the employability of graduates is imperative in strengthening the country’s economy and in increasing competitiveness. Within this context, the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) calls for innovative methods and approaches to teaching and learning and assessing the skills and competencies of graduates to render them employable. Digital competency in Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) is an important component and prerequisite for employment in HRM. The purpose of this research is to reflect on the subject HRIS developed by lecturers at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), with the intention to actively engage students in real-world learning activities and increase their employability. The Enrichment Triad Model (ETM) was used as theoretical framework to develop the subject as it supports a triad teaching and learning approach to education. It is, furthermore, an inter-structured model that supports collaboration between industry, academics and students. The study follows a mixed-method approach to reflect on the learning experiences of the industry, academics and students in the subject field over the past three years. This paper is a work in progress and seeks to broaden the scope of extant studies about student engagement in work-related learning to increase employability. Based on the ETM as theoretical framework and pedagogical practice, this paper proposes that following a triad teaching and learning approach will increase work-related skills of students. Findings from the study show that students, academics and industry alike regard educational opportunities that incorporate active learning experiences with the world of work enhances student engagement in learning and renders them more employable.

Keywords: digital competence, enriched triad model, human resource information systems, student engagement, triad pedagogy.

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Authors: K. R. Sultana, K. Pope, Y. S. Muzychka

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In recent years, the research of heat transfer or phase change phenomena of liquid water droplets experiences a growing interest in aircraft icing, power transmission line icing, marine icing and wind turbine icing applications. This growing interest speeding up the research from single to multiple droplet phenomena. Impingements of multiple droplets and the resulting solidification phenomena after impact on a very cold surface is computationally studied in this paper. The model used in the current study solves the flow equation, composed of energy balance and the volume fraction equations. The main aim of the study is to investigate the effects of several thermo-physical properties (density, thermal conductivity and specific heat) on droplets freezing. The outcome is examined by various important factors, for instance, liquid fraction, total freezing time, droplet temperature and total heat transfer rate in the interface region. The liquid fraction helps to understand the complete phase change phenomena during solidification. Temperature distribution and heat transfer rate help to demonstrate the overall thermal exchange behaviors between the droplets and substrate surface. Findings of this research provide an important technical achievement for ice modeling and prediction studies.

Keywords: droplets, CFD, thermos-physical properties, solidification

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Authors: Wardatutthoyyibah, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Sena Adi Subrata, Muhammad Ali Imron

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The proboscis monkey is an endemic species to the island of Borneo with conservation status IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) of endangered. The population of the monkey has a specific habitat and sensitive to habitat disturbances. As a consequence of increasing rates of land-use change in the last four decades, its population was reported significantly decreased. We quantified the effect of land use change on the proboscis monkey’s habitat through the species distribution modeling (SDM) approach with Maxent Software. We collected presence data and environmental variables, i.e., land cover, topography, bioclimate, distance to the river, distance to the road, and distance to the anthropogenic disturbance to generate predictive distribution maps of the monkeys. We compared two prediction maps for 2000 and 2015 data to represent the current habitat of the monkey. We overlaid the monkey’s predictive distribution map with the existing protected areas to investigate whether the habitat of the monkey is protected under the protected areas networks. The results showed that almost 50% of the monkey’s habitat reduced as the effect of land use change. And only 9% of the current proboscis monkey’s habitat within protected areas. These results are important for the master plan of conservation of the endangered proboscis monkey and provide scientific guidance for the future development incorporating biodiversity issue.

Keywords: endemic species, land use change, maximum entropy, spatial distribution

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Authors: Lalit Kumar, Rashid Al Shidi

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Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) is a major crop in many middle-eastern countries, including Oman. The Dubas bug Ommatissus lybicus is the main pest that affects date palm crops. However not all plantations are infested. It is still uncertain why some plantations get infested while others are not. This research investigated whether tree density and the system of planting (random versus systematic) had any relationship with infestation and levels of infestation. Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems were used to determine the density of trees (number of trees per unit area) while infestation levels were determined by manual counting of insects on 40 leaflets from two fronds on each tree, with a total of 20-60 trees in each village. The infestation was recorded as the average number of insects per leaflet. For tree density estimation, WorldView-3 scenes, with eight bands and 2m spatial resolution, were used. The Local maxima method, which depends on locating of the pixel of highest brightness inside a certain exploration window, was used to identify the trees in the image and delineating individual trees. This information was then used to determine whether the plantation was random or systematic. The ordinary least square regression (OLS) was used to test the global correlation between tree density and infestation level and the Geographic Weight Regression (GWR) was used to find the local spatial relationship. The accuracy of detecting trees varied from 83–99% in agricultural lands with systematic planting patterns to 50–70% in natural forest areas. Results revealed that the density of the trees in most of the villages was higher than the recommended planting number (120–125 trees/hectare). For infestation correlations, the GWR model showed a good positive significant relationship between infestation and tree density in the spring season with R² = 0.60 and medium positive significant relationship in the autumn season, with R² = 0.30. In contrast, the OLS model results showed a weaker positive significant relationship in the spring season with R² = 0.02, p < 0.05 and insignificant relationship in the autumn season with R² = 0.01, p > 0.05. The results showed a positive correlation between infestation and tree density, which suggests the infestation severity increased as the density of date palm trees increased. The correlation result showed that the density alone was responsible for about 60% of the increase in the infestation. This information can be used by the relevant authorities to better control infestations as well as to manage their pesticide spraying programs.

Keywords: dubas bug, date palm, tree density, infestation levels

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Authors: S. Niamkaeo, O. Robert, O. Chaowalit

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In this investigation, we focus on discovering spatial relationship of drug smuggling along the northern border of Thailand. Thailand is no longer a drug production site, but Thailand is still one of the major drug trafficking hubs due to its topographic characteristics facilitating drug smuggling from neighboring countries. Our study areas cover three districts (Mae-jan, Mae-fahluang, and Mae-sai) in Chiangrai city and four districts (Chiangdao, Mae-eye, Chaiprakarn, and Wienghang) in Chiangmai city where drug smuggling of methamphetamine crystal and amphetamine occurs mostly. The data on drug smuggling incidents from 2011 to 2017 was collected from several national and local published news. Geo-spatial drug smuggling database was prepared. Decision tree algorithm was applied in order to discover the spatial relationship of factors related to drug smuggling, which was converted into rules using rule-based system. The factors including land use type, smuggling route, season and distance within 500 meters from check points were found that they were related to drug smuggling in terms of rules-based relationship. It was illustrated that drug smuggling was occurred mostly in forest area in winter. Drug smuggling exhibited was discovered mainly along topographic road where check points were not reachable. This spatial relationship of drug smuggling could support the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board in surveillance drug smuggling.

Keywords: decision tree, drug smuggling, Geographic Information System, GIS knowledge discovery, rule-based system

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Authors: Ashish Jaiswal, Ashwin Ramesh Babu, Mohammad Zaki Zadeh, Fillia Makedon, Glenn Wylie

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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a neuroimaging technique that records neural activations in the brain by capturing the blood oxygen level in different regions based on the task performed by a subject. Given fMRI data, the problem of predicting the state of cognitive fatigue in a person has not been investigated to its full extent. This paper proposes tackling this issue as a multi-class classification problem by dividing the state of cognitive fatigue into six different levels, ranging from no-fatigue to extreme fatigue conditions. We built a spatio-temporal model that uses convolutional neural networks (CNN) for spatial feature extraction and a long short-term memory (LSTM) network for temporal modeling of 4D fMRI scans. We also applied a self-supervised method called MoCo (Momentum Contrast) to pre-train our model on a public dataset BOLD5000 and fine-tuned it on our labeled dataset to predict cognitive fatigue. Our novel dataset contains fMRI scans from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients and healthy controls (HCs) while performing a series of N-back cognitive tasks. This method establishes a state-of-the-art technique to analyze cognitive fatigue from fMRI data and beats previous approaches to solve this problem.

Keywords: fMRI, brain imaging, deep learning, self-supervised learning, contrastive learning, cognitive fatigue

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Authors: Muqdad Al-Juboori, Bithin Datta

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Hydraulic structures such as gravity dams are classified as essential structures, and have the vital role in providing strong and safe water resource management. Three major aspects must be considered to achieve an effective design of such a structure: 1) The building cost, 2) safety, and 3) accurate analysis of seepage characteristics. Due to the complexity and non-linearity relationships of the seepage process, many approximation theories have been developed; however, the application of these theories results in noticeable errors. The analytical solution, which includes the difficult conformal mapping procedure, could be applied for a simple and symmetrical problem only. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to: 1) develop a surrogate model based on numerical simulated data using SEEPW software to approximately simulate seepage process related to a hydraulic structure, 2) develop and solve a linked simulation-optimization model based on the developed surrogate model to describe the seepage occurring under a concrete gravity dam, in order to obtain optimum and safe design at minimum cost. The result shows that the linked simulation-optimization model provides an efficient and optimum design of concrete gravity dams.

Keywords: artificial neural network, concrete gravity dam, genetic algorithm, seepage analysis

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Authors: Asmae Tafraouti, Yasmina Layouni, Pascal Kleimann

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The growing market for Microsystems (MST) and Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) is driving the research for alternative manufacturing techniques to microelectronics-based technologies, which are generally expensive and time-consuming. Hot-embossing and micro-injection modeling of thermoplastics appear to be industrially viable processes. However, both require the use of master models, usually made in hard materials such as steel. These master models cannot be fabricated using standard microelectronics processes. Thus, other micromachining processes are used, as laser machining or micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM). In this work, µEDM has been used. The principle of µEDM is based on the use of a thin cylindrical micro-tool that erodes the workpiece surface. The two electrodes are immersed in a dielectric with a distance of a few micrometers (gap). When an electrical voltage is applied between the two electrodes, electrical discharges are generated, which cause material machining. In order to produce master models with high resolution and smooth surfaces, it is necessary to well control the discharge mechanism. However, several problems are encountered, such as a random electrical discharge process, the fluctuation of the discharge energy, the electrodes' polarity inversion, and the wear of the micro-tool. The effect of different parameters, such as the applied voltage, the working capacitor, the micro-tool diameter, the initial gap, has been studied. This analysis helps to improve the machining performances, such: the workpiece surface condition and the lateral crater's gap.

Keywords: craters, electrical discharges, micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM), microsystems

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Authors: Tawfiq Chekifi, Brahim Dennai, Rachid Khelfaoui

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Over the last few decades, modeling immiscible fluids such as oil and water have been a classical research topic. Droplet-based microfluidics presents a unique platform for mixing, reaction, separation, dispersion of drops, and numerous other functions. For this purpose, several devices were studied, as well as microfluidic oscillator. The latter was obtained from wall attachment microfluidic amplifiers using a feedback loop from the outputs to the control inputs, nevertheless this device have not well used for microdrops applications. In this paper, we suggest a numerical CFD study of a microfluidic oscillator with two different lengths of feedback loop. In order to produce simultaneous microdrops of gasoil on water, a typical geometry that includes double T-junction is connected to the fluidic oscillator. The generation of microdrops is computed by volume-of-fluid method (VOF). Flow oscillations of microdrops were triggered by the Coanda effect of jet flow. The aim of work is to obtain a high oscillation frequency in output of this passive device, the influence of hydrodynamics and physics parameters on the microdrops frequency in the output of our microsystem is also analyzed, The computational results show that, the length of feedback loop, applied pressure on T-junction and interfacial tension have a significant effect on the dispersion of microdrops and its oscillation frequency. Across the range of low Reynold number, the microdrops generation and its dynamics have been accurately controlled by adjusting applying pressure ratio of two phases.

Keywords: fluidic oscillator, microdrops manipulation, VOF (volume of fluid method), microfluidic oscillator

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Authors: Peter K. Galenko, Stefanie Koch, Markus Rettenmayr, Robert Wonneberger, Evgeny V. Kharanzhevskiy, Maria Zamoryanskaya, Vladimir Ankudinov

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We analyze the structure of undercooled melts, crystal growth kinetics and amorphous/crystalline microstructure of rapidly solidifying glass-forming Pd-based and CuZr-based alloys. A dendrite growth model is developed using a combination of the kinetic phase-field model and mesoscopic sharp interface model. The model predicts features of crystallization kinetics in alloys from thermodynamically controlled growth (governed by the Gibbs free energy change on solidification) to the kinetically limited regime (governed by atomic attachment-detachment processes at the solid/liquid interface). Comparing critical undercoolings observed in the crystallization kinetics with experimental data on melt viscosity, atomistic simulation's data on liquid microstructure and theoretically predicted dendrite growth velocity allows us to conclude that the dendrite growth kinetics strongly depends on the cluster structure changes of the melt. The obtained data of theoretical and experimental investigations are used for interpretation of microstructure of samples processed in electro-magnetic levitator on board International Space Station in the frame of the project "MULTIPHAS" (European Space Agency and German Aerospace Center, 50WM1941) and "KINETIKA" (ROSKOSMOS).

Keywords: dendrite, kinetics, model, solidification

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Authors: Ruangdech Sirikit

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The purposes of this research were to study the variables affecting the quality assessment of mathematics subject in Thailand by using value-added analysis on TIMSS 2011. The data used in this research is the secondary data from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), collected from 6,124 students in 172 schools from Thailand, studying only mathematics subjects. The data were based on 14 assessment tests of knowledge in mathematics. There were 3 steps of data analysis: 1) To analyze descriptive statistics 2) To estimate competency of students from the assessment of their mathematics proficiency by using MULTILOG program; 3) analyze value added in the model of quality assessment using Value-Added Model with Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) and 2 levels of analysis. The research results were as follows: 1. Student level variables that had significant effects on the competency of students at .01 levels were Parental care, Resources at home, Enjoyment of learning mathematics and Extrinsic motivation in learning mathematics. Variable that had significant effects on the competency of students at .05 levels were Education of parents and self-confident in learning mathematics. 2. School level variable that had significant effects on competency of students at .01 levels was Extra large school. Variable that had significant effects on competency of students at .05 levels was medium school.

Keywords: quality assessment, value-added model, TIMSS, mathematics, Thailand

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Authors: Marie-Therese Claes, Anett Hermann

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With the advent of the web and information technology since the end of the 20ᵗʰ century, digitalization has revolutionized our everyday life, from shopping and dating to education and transportation. The world of work is one of the areas that has been highly transformed by changing the time and spatial limits of the work. The expansion of the internet, wireless, and easily portable devices such as laptop computers and mobile phones has enabled us to work almost from any place at any time. As a result, telework, which started in the 1950s and elevated in the 1970s, steeply raised to a new level in 21ˢᵗ century. Telework consists of various forms of work done from outside the traditional workplace by using information technologies. The social distancing and lockdown measures that have been taken to reduce the spread of the virus in many countries worldwide resulted in an increasing number of teleworkers and made “working from home’’ synonymous with telework. Post-COVID-19, the number of teleworkers is still higher than before the pandemic period, and the interest in expanding teleworking has been growing too. Notwithstanding the advantages ushered by telework, it also has a number of drawbacks that negatively affect organizations and employees. The intention of this piece of work is not to indicate a causational relationship between telework and discrimination. Our aim is to indicate some unintended and/or unnoticed deleterious effects of telework in reinforcing discrimination and to instigate discussion on how to mitigate the effects. To do so, this insight indicates how telework reinforces traditional gender roles and how organizational culture towards telework and its access to employees at different levels of the organizational hierarchy opens the room for discrimination.

Keywords: mobile work, discrimination, gender roles, organizational culture

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Authors: Mohamed Dhaoui, Hakim Gabtni

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The migration of hydrocarbons is a fairly complicated process that depends on several parameters, both structural and sedimentological. In this study, we will try to determine secondary migration paths which convey hydrocarbon from their main source rock to the largest reservoir of the Paleozoic petroleum system of the Tunisian part of Ghadames basin. In fact, The Silurian source rock is the main source rock of the Paleozoic petroleum system of the Ghadames basin. However, the most solicited reservoir in this area is the Triassic reservoir TAGI (Trias Argilo-Gréseux Inférieur). Several geochemical studies have confirmed that oil products TAGI come mainly from the Tannezuft Silurian source rock. That being said that secondary migration occurs through the fault system which affects the post-Silurian series. Our study is based on analysis and interpretation of gravity data. The gravity modeling was conducted in the northern part of Ghadames basin and the Telemzane uplift. We noted that there is a close relationship between the location of producing oil fields and gravity gradients which separate the positive and negative gravity anomalies. In fact, the analysis and transformation of the Bouguer anomaly map, and the residual gravity map allowed as understanding the architecture of the Precambrian in the study area, thereafter gravimetric models were established allowed to determine the probable migration path.

Keywords: basement, Ghadames, gravity, hydrocarbon, migration path

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Authors: Azadeh Rezafar

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Iran is one of the oldest countries with traditional culture in the world. All over the history Iranians had traditional architectural designs, which were at the same time sustainable, ecological, functional and environmental consistent. These human scale architectures were built for maximum use, comfort, climate adaptation with available resources and techniques. Climate variability of the country caused developing of variety design methods. More of these methods such as windcatchers in Yazd City or Panam (Insulation) were scientific solutions at the same time. Renewable energy resources were used in these methods that featured in them. While climate and ecological issues were dominant parts of these traditional designs, aesthetic and beauty issues were not ignored. Conformity with the community’s culture caused more compact designs that the visual aesthetics of them can be seen inside of them. Different organizations of space were used for these visual aesthetic issues inside the houses as well as historical urban designs. For example dry and hot climates in central parts of the country designed with centralized organization. Most central parts of these designs functioned as a courtyard for temperate the air in the summer. This paper will give summary descriptive information about traditional Iranian architectural style by figures all around the country with different climate conditions, while focus of the paper is traditional architectural design of the central part of the country, with dry and hot climate condition. This information may be useful for contemporary architectural designs, which are designed without noticing to the vernacular condition and caused cities look like each other.

Keywords: architectural design, traditional design, Iran, sustainability

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Authors: Priyal Motwani, Garvit Goel

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In this study, we have studied and analysed the transaction data of investors of a mutual fund investment company based in India. Based on the data available, we have identified the top four biases that affect the investors of the emerging market economies through regression analysis and three uniquely defined ratios. We found that the four most prominent biases that affected the investment making decisions in India are– Chauffer Knowledge, investors tend to make ambitious decisions about sectors they know little about; Bandwagon effect – the response of the market indices to macroeconomic events are more profound and seem to last longer compared to western markets; base-rate neglect – judgement about stocks are too much based on the most recent development ignoring the long-term fundamentals of the stock; availability bias – lack of proper communication channels of market information lead people to be too reliant on limited information they already have. After segregating the investors into six groups, the results have further been studied to identify a correlation among the demographics, gender and unique cultural identity of the derived groups and the corresponding prevalent biases. On the basis of the results obtained from the derived groups, our study recommends six methods, specific to each group, to educate the investors about the prevalent biases and their role in investment decision making.

Keywords: Bandwagon effect, behavioural biases, Chauffeur knowledge, demographics, investor literacy, mutual funds

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Authors: Ajai Singh

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Simulation of hydrological processes at the watershed outlet through modelling approach is essential for proper planning and implementation of appropriate soil conservation measures in Damodar Barakar catchment, Hazaribagh, India where soil erosion is a dominant problem. This study quantifies the parametric uncertainty involved in simulation of stream flow using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a watershed scale model and Radial Basis Neural Network (RBNN), an artificial neural network model. Both the models were calibrated and validated based on measured stream flow and quantification of the uncertainty in SWAT model output was assessed using ‘‘Sequential Uncertainty Fitting Algorithm’’ (SUFI-2). Though both the model predicted satisfactorily, but RBNN model performed better than SWAT with R2 and NSE values of 0.92 and 0.92 during training, and 0.71 and 0.70 during validation period, respectively. Comparison of the results of the two models also indicates a wider prediction interval for the results of the SWAT model. The values of P-factor related to each model shows that the percentage of observed stream flow values bracketed by the 95PPU in the RBNN model as 91% is higher than the P-factor in SWAT as 87%. In other words the RBNN model estimates the stream flow values more accurately and with less uncertainty. It could be stated that RBNN model based on simple input could be used for estimation of monthly stream flow, missing data, and testing the accuracy and performance of other models.

Keywords: SWAT, RBNN, SUFI 2, bootstrap technique, stream flow, simulation

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Authors: Pooja Rani, G. S. Mahapatra, S. K. Pandey

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In this paper, we propose a novel approach of Neural Network and Particle Swarm Optimization methods for software reliability prediction. We first explain how to apply compound function in neural network so that we can derive a Flexible Logistic (S-shaped) Growth Curve (FLGC) model. This model mathematically represents software failure as a random process and can be used to evaluate software development status during testing. To avoid trapping in local minima, we have applied Particle Swarm Optimization method to train proposed model using failure test data sets. We drive our proposed model using computational based intelligence modeling. Thus, proposed model becomes Neuro-Particle Swarm Optimization (NPSO) model. We do test result with different inertia weight to update particle and update velocity. We obtain result based on best inertia weight compare along with Personal based oriented PSO (pPSO) help to choose local best in network neighborhood. The applicability of proposed model is demonstrated through real time test data failure set. The results obtained from experiments show that the proposed model has a fairly accurate prediction capability in software reliability.

Keywords: software reliability, flexible logistic growth curve model, software cumulative failure prediction, neural network, particle swarm optimization

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Authors: D. Pugazhenthi, B. Sree Vidya

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Cloud computing is one of the emerging technologies that enables end users to use the services of cloud on ‘pay per usage’ strategy. This technology grows in a fast pace and so is its security threat. One among the various services provided by cloud is storage. In this service, security plays a vital factor for both authenticating legitimate users and protection of information. This paper brings in efficient ways of authenticating users as well as securing information on the cloud. Initial phase proposed in this paper deals with an authentication technique using multi-factor and multi-dimensional authentication system with multi-level security. Unique identification and slow intrusive formulates an advanced reliability on user-behaviour based biometrics than conventional means of password authentication. By biometric systems, the accounts are accessed only by a legitimate user and not by a nonentity. The biometric templates employed here do not include single trait but multiple, viz., iris and finger prints. The coordinating stage of the authentication system functions on Ensemble Support Vector Machine (SVM) and optimization by assembling weights of base SVMs for SVM ensemble after individual SVM of ensemble is trained by the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA). Thus it helps in generating a user-specific secure cryptographic key of the multimodal biometric template by fusion process. Data security problem is averted and enhanced security architecture is proposed using encryption and decryption system with double key cryptography based on Fuzzy Neural Network (FNN) for data storing and retrieval in cloud computing . The proposing scheme aims to protect the records from hackers by arresting the breaking of cipher text to original text. This improves the authentication performance that the proposed double cryptographic key scheme is capable of providing better user authentication and better security which distinguish between the genuine and fake users. Thus, there are three important modules in this proposed work such as 1) Feature extraction, 2) Multimodal biometric template generation and 3) Cryptographic key generation. The extraction of the feature and texture properties from the respective fingerprint and iris images has been done initially. Finally, with the help of fuzzy neural network and symmetric cryptography algorithm, the technique of double key encryption technique has been developed. As the proposed approach is based on neural networks, it has the advantage of not being decrypted by the hacker even though the data were hacked already. The results prove that authentication process is optimal and stored information is secured.

Keywords: artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA), biometric authentication, decryption, encryption, fingerprint, fusion, fuzzy neural network (FNN), iris, multi-modal, support vector machine classification

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Authors: S. Rostami, S. H. Hosseini, A. A. Torabi, M. Bekhradi

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Introduction: Interest in the use of caffeine as an ergogenic aid has increased since the International Olympic Committee lifted the partial ban on its use. Caffeine has beneficial effects on various aspects of athletic performance, but its effects on training have been neglected. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of caffeine on testosterone and cortisole in young futsal players. Methods: Twenty-four professional futsal players with 18.3± 1.9 years ingested caffeine doses of 0, 200 and 800 mg in random order 1 hr before an anaerobic-exercise session (RAST test). Samples were taken at the time of caffeine ingestion and 30 min after the session. Data were log-transformed to estimate percent effects with mixed modeling, and effects were standardized to assess magnitudes. fects on training have been neglected. Results: Testosterone concentration showed a small increase of 15% (90% confidence limits, ± 19%) during exercise. Caffeine raised this concentration in a dose-dependent manner by a further small 21% (± 24%) at the highest dose. The 800-mg dose also produced a moderate 52% (± 44%) increase in cortisol. The effect of caffeine on the testosterone: cortisol ratio was a small decline (14%; ± 21%). Discussion and Conclusion: Caffeine has some potential to benefit training outcomes via the anabolic effects of the increase in testosterone concentration, but this benefit might be counteracted by the opposing catabolic effects of the increase in cortisol and resultant decline in the testosterone: cortisol ratio.

Keywords: anabolic, catabolic, performance, testosterone, cortisol ratio, RAST test

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Authors: Jaana Sepp, Ulvi Kõrgemaa, Kristi Puusepp, Õie Tähtla

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COVID-19 was officially recognized as a pandemic in late 2019 by the WHO, and it has led to changes in the education sector. Educational institutions were closed, and most schools adopted distance learning. Estonia is known as a digitally well-developed country. Based on that, in the pandemic time, nursing education continued, and new technological solutions were implemented. To provide nursing education, special focus was paid on quality and flexibility. The aim of this paper is to present administrative, digital, and technological solutions which support Estonian nursing educators to continue the study process in the pandemic time and to develop a sustainable solution for nursing education for the future. This paper includes the authors’ analysis of the documents and decisions implemented in the institutions through the pandemic time. It is a case study of Estonian nursing educators. Results of the analysis show that the implementation of distance learning principles challenges the development of innovative strategies and technics for the assessment of student performance and educational outcomes and implement new strategies to encourage student engagement in the virtual classroom. Additionally, hospital internships were canceled, and the simulation approach was deeply implemented as a new opportunity to develop and assess students’ practical skills. There are many other technical and administrative changes that have also been carried out, such as students’ support and assessment systems, the designing and conducting of hybrid and blended studies, etc. All services were redesigned and made more available, individual, and flexible. Hence, the feedback system was changed, the information was collected in parallel with educational activities. Experiences of nursing education during the pandemic time are widely presented in scientific literature. However, to conclude our study, authors have found evidence that solutions implemented in Estonian nursing education allowed the students to graduate within the nominal study period without any decline in education quality. Operative information system and flexibility provided the minimum distance between the students, support, and academic staff, and likewise, the changes were implemented quickly and efficiently. Institution memberships were updated with the appropriate information, and it positively affected their satisfaction, motivation, and commitment. We recommend that the feedback process and the system should be permanently changed in the future to place all members in the same information area, redefine the hospital internship process, implement hybrid learning, as well as to improve the communication system between stakeholders inside and outside the organization. The main limitation of this study relates to the size of Estonia. Nursing education is provided by two institutions only, and similarly, the number of students is low. The result could be generated to the institutions with a similar size and administrative system. In the future, the relationship between nurses’ performance and organizational outcomes should be deeply investigated and influences of the pandemic time education analyzed at workplaces.

Keywords: hybrid learning, nursing education, nursing, COVID-19

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Authors: P. O. Fatoki, R. S. Olaleye, B. O. Adeniji

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The study investigated farmers’ perception of the effects of climate change on rice production in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting a total of 248 rice farmers from the study area. Data for the study were collected through the use of interview schedule. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that majority (71.8%) of the respondents were married and the mean age of the respondents was 44.54 years. The results also showed that most adapted strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change on rice production were change of planting and harvesting date (67.7%), movement to another site (63.7%) and increased or reduced land size (58.5%). Relationship between the roles of extension agents in mitigating climate change effects on rice production and farmers’ perception were significant as revealed Chi-Square analysis from the study ; Dissemination of information ( = 2.16, P < 0.05) and use of demonstration methods ( = 2.15, P < 0.05). Poisson regression analysis revealed that educational status, farm size, experience and yield had significant relationship with the perception of the effects of climate change at 0.01 significance level while household size was as well significant at 0.05. It is recommended that some of the adaptive strategies and practices for mitigating the effects of climate change in rice production should be improved, while the extension outfits should be strengthened to ensure adequate dissemination of relevant information on climate change with a view to mitigate its effects on rice production.

Keywords: perception, rice farmers, climate change, mitigation, adaptive strategies

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Authors: Turkan Sultan Yasar Ismail, Mehmet Cetin, M. Danial Ismail, Hakan Sevik

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Nowadays, there is a need for the real world to be translated to the virtual environment by three-dimensional visualisation for restoration and promotional modelling of historic sites in protected areas. Visualisation models have also become the very important basis for the creation of three-dimensional Geographic Information System. The protection of historical and cultural heritage and documenting in Turkey as well as all over the world is an important issue. This heritage is a bridge between the past and the future of humanity. Many historical and cultural heritages suffer neglect and for reasons arising from natural causes. This is to determine the current status of the work and documenting information from the selected buildings. This process is important for their conservation and renovation work that might be done in the future. Kastamonu city is one of the historical cities in Turkey with a number of heritage buildings. However, Tufekciler Village is not visited and famous even though it includes several historical buildings and peaceful landscape. Digital terrestrial photogrammetry is one of the most important methods used in the documentation of cultural and historical heritage. Firstly, measurements were made primarily around creating polygon mesh and 3D model drawings of the structures to be modelled on images with the move to digital media such as picture size and by subsequent visualisation process. Secondly, a restoration project is offered to the village with the concept of eco-tourism with all scales such as, interior space to landscape design.

Keywords: eco-tourism, restoration, sustainability, cultural village

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Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

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Heat pipe is a simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of the heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force, the liquid phase flows to evaporator section. In HVAC systems, the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally, heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region, and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In the present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of the heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances its heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, CFD simulation

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Authors: Shryas Bhurat, Aryan Vashistha, Sampreet Dinakar Nayak, Ayush Gupta

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As the technology is advancing more towards high computational resources, there is a paradigm shift in the usage of these resources to optimize the design process. This paper discusses the usage of ‘Generative Design using Artificial Intelligence’ to build better models that adapt the operations like selection, mutation, and crossover to generate results. The human mind thinks of the simplest approach while designing an object, but the intelligence learns from the past & designs the complex optimized CAD Models. Generative Design takes the boundary conditions and comes up with multiple solutions with iterations to come up with a sturdy design with the most optimal parameter that is given, saving huge amounts of time & resources. The new production techniques that are at our disposal allow us to use additive manufacturing, 3D printing, and other innovative manufacturing techniques to save resources and design artistically engineered CAD Models. Also, this paper discusses the Genetic Algorithm, the Non-Domination technique to choose the right results using biomimicry that has evolved for current habitation for millions of years. The computer uses parametric models to generate newer models using an iterative approach & uses cloud computing to store these iterative designs. The later part of the paper compares the topology optimization technology with Generative Design that is previously being used to generate CAD Models. Finally, this paper shows the performance of algorithms and how these algorithms help in designing resource-efficient models.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, bio mimicry, generative modeling, non-dominant techniques

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Authors: Giorgio Bertolazzi, Panayiotis Benos, Michele Tumminello, Claudia Coronnello

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MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate the expression levels of messenger RNAs. MicroRNA regulation activity depends on the recognition of binding sites located on mRNA molecules. ComiR (Combinatorial miRNA targeting) is a user friendly web tool realized to predict the targets of a set of microRNAs, starting from their expression profile. ComiR incorporates miRNA expression in a thermodynamic binding model, and it associates each gene with the probability of being a target of a set of miRNAs. ComiR algorithms were trained with the information regarding binding sites in the 3’UTR region, by using a reliable dataset containing the targets of endogenously expressed microRNA in D. melanogaster S2 cells. This dataset was obtained by comparing the results from two different experimental approaches, i.e., inhibition, and immunoprecipitation of the AGO1 protein; this protein is a component of the microRNA induced silencing complex. In this work, we tested whether including coding region binding sites in the ComiR algorithm improves the performance of the tool in predicting microRNA targets. We focused the analysis on the D. melanogaster species and updated the ComiR underlying database with the currently available releases of mRNA and microRNA sequences. As a result, we find that the ComiR algorithm trained with the information related to the coding regions is more efficient in predicting the microRNA targets, with respect to the algorithm trained with 3’utr information. On the other hand, we show that 3’utr based predictions can be seen as complementary to the coding region based predictions, which suggests that both predictions, from 3'UTR and coding regions, should be considered in a comprehensive analysis. Furthermore, we observed that the lists of targets obtained by analyzing data from one experimental approach only, that is, inhibition or immunoprecipitation of AGO1, are not reliable enough to test the performance of our microRNA target prediction algorithm. Further analysis will be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the tool with data from other species, provided that validated datasets, as obtained from the comparison of RISC proteins inhibition and immunoprecipitation experiments, will be available for the same samples. Finally, we propose to upgrade the existing ComiR web-tool by including the coding region based trained model, available together with the 3’UTR based one.

Keywords: AGO1, coding region, Drosophila melanogaster, microRNA target prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 436