Search results for: dynamics. modeling

Authors: Naznine Anwar, Kim Cornish, Izelle Labuschagne, Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis

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Falls and subsequent injuries are common features in symptomatic Huntington’s disease (symp-HD) individuals. As part of daily walking, navigating around obstacles may incur a greater risk of falls in symp-HD. We designed obstacle-crossing experiment to examine adaptive gait dynamics and to identify underlying spatiotemporal gait characteristics that could increase the risk of falling in symp-HD. This experiment involved navigating around one or two ground-based obstacles under two conditions (walking while navigating around one obstacle, and walking while navigating around two obstacles). A total of 32 participants were included, 16 symp-HD and 16 healthy controls with age and sex matched. We used a GAITRite electronic walkway to examine the spatiotemporal gait characteristics and inter-trail gait variability when participants walked at their preferable speed. A minimum of six trials were completed which were performed for baseline free walk and also for each and every condition during navigating around the obstacles. For analysis, we separated all walking steps into three phases as approach steps, navigating steps and recovery steps. The mean and inter-trail variability (within participant standard deviation) for each step gait variable was calculated across the six trails. We found symp-HD individuals significantly decreased their gait velocity and step length and increased step duration variability during the navigating steps and recovery steps compared with approach steps. In contrast, HC individuals showed less difference in gait velocity, step time and step length variability from baseline in both respective conditions as well as all three approaches. These findings indicate that increasing spatiotemporal gait variability may be a possible compensatory strategy that is adopted by symp-HD individuals to effectively navigate obstacles during walking. Such findings may offer benefit to clinicians in the development of strategies for HD individuals to improve functional outcomes in the home and hospital based rehabilitation program.

Keywords: Huntington’s disease, gait variables, navigating around obstacle, basal ganglia dysfunction

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Authors: Mamoona Rasheed, Salman Iqbal, Muhammad Abdullah

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Organizational capability, in terms of employees’ knowledge is valuable, and difficult to reproduce; and help to build sustainable competitive advantages. Knowledge capability is linked with human resource (HR) practices of an organization. This paper investigates the relationship between HR practices, knowledge management and organization capability. In an organization, employees play key role for the effective organizational performance by sharing their knowledge with management and co-workers that contributes towards organization capability. Pakistan being a developing country has different HR practices and culture. The business opportunities give rise to the discussion about the effect of HR practices on knowledge management and organization capability as innovation performance. An empirical study is conducted through questionnaires form the employees in private banks of Lahore, Pakistan. The data is collected via structured questionnaire with a sample of 120 cases. Data is analyzed using Structure Equation Modeling (SEM), and results are depicted using AMOS software. Results of this study are tabulated, interpreted and crosschecked with other studies. Findings suggest that there is a positive relationship of training & development along with incentives on knowledge management. On the other hand, employee’s participation has insignificant association with knowledge management. In addition, knowledge management has also positive association with organization capability. In line with the previous research, it is suggested that knowledge management is important for improving the organizational capability such as innovation performance and knowledge capacity of firm. Organization capability may improve significantly once specific HR practices are properly established and implemented by HR managers. This Study has key implications for knowledge management and innovation fields theoretically and practically.

Keywords: employee participation, incentives, knowledge management, organization capability, training and development

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Authors: Christian Kapuku, Seung-Young Kho

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An accurate representation of the transportation system serving the region is one of the important aspects of transportation modeling. Such representation often requires developing an abstract model of the system elements, which also requires important amount of data, surveys and time. However, in some cases such as in developing countries, data deficiencies, time and budget constraints do not always allow such accurate representation, leaving opportunities to assumptions that may negatively affect the quality of the analysis. With the emergence of Internet open source data especially in the mapping technologies as well as the advances in Geography Information System, opportunities to tackle these issues have raised. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate such application through a practical case of the development of the transportation network for the city of Kinshasa. The GIS geo-referencing was used to construct the digitized map of Transportation Analysis Zones using available scanned images. Centroids were then dynamically placed at the center of activities using an activities density map. Next, the road network with its characteristics was built using OpenStreet data and other official road inventory data by intersecting their layers and cleaning up unnecessary links such as residential streets. The accuracy of the final network was then checked, comparing it with satellite images from Google and Bing. For the validation, the final network was exported into Emme3 to check for potential network coding issues. Results show a high accuracy between the built network and satellite images, which can mostly be attributed to the use of open source data.

Keywords: geographic information system (GIS), network construction, transportation database, open source data

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Authors: Victor N. Anisimov, Igor E. Serov, Ksenia M. Kolkova, Natalia V. Galkina

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The problem of memorability of the advertising content is closely connected with the key issues of neuromarketing. The memorability of the advertising content contributes to the marketing effectiveness of the promoted product. Significant directions of studying the phenomenon of memorability are the memorability of the brand (detected through the memorability of the logo) and the memorability of the product offer (detected through the memorization of dynamic audiovisual advertising content - commercial). The aim of this work is to reveal the predictors of memorization of static and dynamic audiovisual stimuli (logos and commercials). An important direction of the research was revealing differences in psychophysiological correlates of memorability between static and dynamic audiovisual stimuli. We assumed that static and dynamic images are perceived in different ways and may have a difference in the memorization process. Objective methods of recording psychophysiological parameters while watching static and dynamic audiovisual materials are well suited to achieve the aim. The electroencephalography (EEG) method was performed with the aim of identifying correlates of the memorability of various stimuli in the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex. All stimuli (in the groups of statics and dynamics separately) were divided into 2 groups – remembered and not remembered based on the results of the questioning method. The questionnaires were filled out by survey participants after viewing the stimuli not immediately, but after a time interval (for detecting stimuli recorded through long-term memorization). Using statistical method, we developed the classifier (statistical model) that predicts which group (remembered or not remembered) stimuli gets, based on psychophysiological perception. The result of the statistical model was compared with the results of the questionnaire. Conclusions: Predictors of the memorability of static and dynamic stimuli have been identified, which allows prediction of which stimuli will have a higher probability of remembering. Further developments of this study will be the creation of stimulus memory model with the possibility of recognizing the stimulus as previously seen or new. Thus, in the process of remembering the stimulus, it is planned to take into account the stimulus recognition factor, which is one of the most important tasks for neuromarketing.

Keywords: memory, commercials, neuromarketing, EEG, branding

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Authors: Andrey Kupriyanov

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In recent years, much attention has been paid to the problems of ionospheric disturbances and their influence on the signals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) around the world. This is due to the increase in solar activity, the expansion of the scope of GNSS, the emergence of new satellite systems, the introduction of new frequencies and many others. The influence of the Earth's ionosphere on the propagation of radio signals is an important factor in many applied fields of science and technology. The paper considers the application of the method of transionospheric sounding using measurements from signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems to determine the TEC distribution and scintillations of the ionospheric layers. To calculate these parameters, the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model of the ionosphere, refined in the local area, is used. The organization of operational monitoring of ionospheric parameters is analyzed using several NovAtel GPStation6 base stations. It allows performing primary processing of GNSS measurement data, calculating TEC and fixing scintillation moments, modeling the ionosphere using the obtained data, storing data and performing ionospheric correction in measurements. As a result of the study, it was proved that the use of the transionospheric sounding method for reconstructing the altitude distribution of electron concentration in different altitude range and would provide operational information about the ionosphere, which is necessary for solving a number of practical problems in the field of many applications. Also, the use of multi-frequency multisystem GNSS equipment and special software will allow achieving the specified accuracy and volume of measurements.

Keywords: global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), GPstation6, international reference ionosphere (IRI), ionosphere, scintillations, total electron content (TEC)

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Authors: Noor Abdelhamid, Donovan Nelson, Cara Prosser

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The architectural design process could be mapped out as a dialogue between designer and user that is constructed across multiple phases with the overarching goal of aligning design outcomes with user needs. Traditionally, this dialogue is bounded within a preliminary phase of determining factors that will direct the design intent, and a completion phase, of handing off the project to the client. Pre- and post-occupancy evaluations (P/POE’s) could provide an alternative process by extending this dialogue on both ends of the design process. The purpose of this research is to study the influence of systematic pre-occupancy data collection in achieving design goals by conducting post-occupancy evaluations of two case studies. In the context of this study, systematic pre-occupancy data collection is defined as the preliminary documentation of the existing conditions that helps portray stakeholders’ needs. When implemented, pre-occupancy occurs during the early phases of the architectural design process, utilizing the information to shape the design intent. Investigative POE’s are performed on two case studies with distinct early design approaches to understand how the current space is impacting user needs, establish design outcomes, and inform future strategies. The first case study underwent systematic pre-occupancy data collection and synthesis, while the other represents the traditional, uncoordinated practice of informally collecting data during an early design phase. POE’s target the dynamics between the building and its occupants by studying how spaces are serving the needs of the users. Data collection for this study consists of user surveys, audiovisual materials, and observations during regular site visits. Mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative analyses are synthesized to identify patterns in the data. The paper concludes by positioning value on both sides of the architectural design process: the integration of systematic pre-occupancy methods in the early phases and the reinforcement of a continued dialogue between building and design team after building completion.

Keywords: architecture, design process, pre-occupancy data, post-occupancy evaluation

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Authors: Heval Serhat Uluk, Sam M. Dakka, Kuldeep Singh, Richard Jefferson-Loveday

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The carbon footprint of the aviation sector in total measured 3.8% in 2017, and it is expected to triple by 2050. New combustion approaches and fuel types are necessary to prevent this. This paper will focus on using propane, methane, and hydrogen as fuel replacements for kerosene and implement a trapped vortex combustor design to increase efficiency. Reacting simulations were conducted for axisymmetric trapped vortex combustor to investigate the static pressure drop, combustion efficiency and pattern factor for various cavity aspect ratios for 0.3, 0.6 and 1 and air mass flow rates for 14 m/s, 28 m/s and 42 m/s. Propane, methane and hydrogen are used as alternative fuels. The combustion model was anchored based on swirl flame configuration with an emphasis on high fidelity of boundary conditions with favorable results of eddy dissipation model implementation. Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) k-ε model turbulence model for the validation effort was used for turbulence modelling. A grid independence study was conducted for the three-dimensional model to reduce computational time. Preliminary results for 24 m/s air mass flow rate provided a close temperature profile inside the cavity relative to the experimental study. The investigation will be carried out on the effect of air mass flow rates and cavity aspect ratio on the combustion efficiency, pattern factor and static pressure drop in the combustor. A comparison study among pure methane, propane and hydrogen will be conducted to investigate their suitability for trapped vortex combustors and conclude their advantages and disadvantages as a fuel replacement. Therefore, the study will be one of the milestones to achieving 2050 zero carbon emissions or reducing carbon emissions.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamic, aerospace, propulsion, trapped vortex combustor

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Authors: Hamid Hanifi, Adel Azar, Alireza Booshehri

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In order to know about the capability level of R & D units in automotive industry, it is essential that organizations always compare themselves with standard level and higher than themselves so that to be improved continuously. In this research, with respect to the importance of this issue, we have tried to present an assessment model for R & D capabilities having reviewed on new products development in automotive industry of Iran. Iran Khodro Company was selected for the case study. To this purpose, first, having a review on the literature, about 200 indicators effective in R & D capabilities and new products development were extracted. Then, of these numbers, 29 indicators which were more important were selected by industry and academia experts and the questionnaire was distributed among statistical population. Statistical population was consisted of 410 individuals in Iran Khodro Company. We used the 410 questionnaires for exploratory factor analysis and then used the data of 308 questionnaires from the same population randomly for confirmatory factor analysis. The results of exploratory factor analysis led to categorization of dimensions in 9 secondary dimensions. Naming the dimensions was done according to a literature review and the professors’ opinion. Using structural equation modeling and AMOS software, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and ultimate model with 9 secondary dimensions was confirmed. Meanwhile, 9 secondary dimensions of this research are as follows: 1) Research and design capability, 2) Customer and market capability, 3) Technology capability, 4) Financial resources capability, 5) Organizational chart, 6) Intellectual capital capability, 7) NPD process capability, 8) Managerial capability and 9) Strategy capability.

Keywords: research and development, new products development, structural equations, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis

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Authors: Moujib Bahri, Ouafa Sakka, Kallel Rahim

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This study builds on the literature about the effects of corruption on economic growth at the firm level, which analyzes how the payment of bribes affect organizational performance. Traditionally, the literature distinguishes two points of view regarding the impact of corruption: grease view and sand view. The grease view is based on the idea that corruption can compensate for the negative effect of red tape on firms’ activities such as innovation and exports. Therefore, some firms will be motivated to pay some additional money to officials in order to reduce the delay related to bureaucratic procedures. On the contrary, the second point of view considers that corruption sands the wheels of the economy and distorts resource allocation because it increases agency and transaction costs and reduces the returns on the investment. We have tested the effect of corruption on innovation and export activities on a sample of 537 Tunisian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) using structural equation modeling and path analysis. Tunisia has undergone a revolution in 2010 and since then, the country is experiencing a political instability and economic hardships. Our results do not support the greasing hypothesis suggesting that corruption can reduce the negative effect of bureaucratic delays and the hard access of companies to public services related to exports. Instead, our results support the sanding hypothesis according to which corruption hinders SMEs’ exports through its negative influence on innovation. Furthermore, our results show that the interaction between excessive bureaucratic red tape and corruption has a negative effect on exports. However, the interaction between political instability and corruption increases exports.

Keywords: corruption, exports, SMEs, economic conditions

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Authors: Zerrin Akter Anni

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The media's role in shaping perceptions of violence against women (VAW) and their portrayal in news reporting significantly influences our understanding of this critical issue. My research delves into the portrayal of violence against women in mainstream media, using the prominent case of Dr. Rumana Manzur, a former UBC Fulbright Scholar from Bangladesh who suffered a brutal assault by her ex-husband in June 2011. Employing a qualitative research approach, this study uses an ethnographic media analysis method to scrutinize news reports of the aforementioned case from selected newspapers in Bangladesh. The primary objectives are to investigate how the popular news media in Bangladesh addresses the issue of violence against women and frames the victims of such violence. The findings of this research highlight that news media can perpetuate gender stereotypes and subtly shift blame onto the victim through various techniques, creating intricate interactions between the reader and the text. These techniques include sensationalized headlines, textual content, and graphic images. This victim-blaming process not only retraumatizes the survivor but also distorts the actual facts when presenting the case to a larger audience. Consequently, the representation of violence against women cases in media, particularly the portrayal of women as victims during reporting, significantly impacts our collective comprehension of this issue. In conclusion, this paper asserts that the Bangladeshi media, particularly news outlets, in conjunction with society, continue to follow a pattern of depicting gender-based violence in ways that devalue the image of women. This research underscores the need for critical analysis of media representations of violence against women cases, as they can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and hinder efforts to combat this pervasive problem. Therefore, the outcome of this research is to comprehend the complex dynamics between media and violence against women, which is essential for fostering a more empathetic and informed society that actively works towards eradicating this problem from our society.

Keywords: media representation, violence against women (vaw), ethnographic media analysis, victim-blaming, sensationalized headline

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Authors: Mohamed Ghorab

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Local generated and distributed system for thermal and electrical energy is sighted in the near future to reduce transmission losses instead of the centralized system. Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is designed at different sizes (small and medium) and it is incorporated in energy distribution between the hubs. The energy generated from each technology at each hub should meet the local energy demands. Economic and environmental enhancement can be achieved when there are interaction and energy exchange between the hubs. Network energy system and CO₂ optimization between different six hubs presented Canadian community level are investigated in this study. Three different scenarios of technology systems are studied to meet both thermal and electrical demand loads for the six hubs. The conventional system is used as the first technology system and a reference case study. The conventional system includes boiler to provide the thermal energy, but the electrical energy is imported from the utility grid. The second technology system includes combined heat and power (CHP) system to meet the thermal demand loads and part of the electrical demand load. The third scenario has integration systems of CHP and Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) where the thermal waste energy from the CHP system is used by ORC to generate electricity. General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) is used to model DER system optimization based on energy economics and CO₂ emission analyses. The results are compared with the conventional energy system. The results show that scenarios 2 and 3 provide an annual total cost saving of 21.3% and 32.3 %, respectively compared to the conventional system (scenario 1). Additionally, Scenario 3 (CHP & ORC systems) provides 32.5% saving in CO₂ emission compared to conventional system subsequent case 2 (CHP system) with a value of 9.3%.  

Keywords: distributed energy resources, network energy system, optimization, microgeneration system

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Authors: Borislava Dimitrova, Didem Kepir Savoly

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The movie analysis offers a dynamic and multifaceted lens in order to explore and understand various aspects of human behavior and relationship, emotion, and cognition. Cinema therapy can be an important tool for counselor education and counselors in therapy. Therefore, this paper aims to delve deeper into human relationships and individual behavior patterns and analyze some of their most vivid aspects in light of the transactional analysis and its main components. While describing certain human behaviors and emotional states in real life, sometimes it can be difficult even for mental health practitioners to become aware of the subtle social cues and hints that are being transmitted, often in a rushed and swift manner. To address this challenge, the current paper focuses on the relationship dynamics as conveyed through the plot of the movie “Sunset Boulevard”, and examines slightly exaggerated yet true-to-life examples. The movie was directed by Billy Wilder and written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman Jr. The scenes of interest were examined through Transactional Analysis concepts: the different ego states, strokes, the various kinds of transactions, the paradigm of games in transactional analysis, and lastly, with the help of the drama triangle. The addressed themes comprised mainly the way the main characters engaged in game playing, which eventually had a negative outcome on the sequences of interactions between the individuals and the desired payoffs that they craved as a result. Furthermore, counselor educators can use the result of this paper for educational purposes, such as for teaching theoretical knowledge about Transactional Analysis, and for utilizing characters’ interactions and behaviors as real-life situations that can serve as case studies and role-playing activities. Finally, the paper aims to foster the use of movies as materials for psychological analysis which can assist the teaching of new mental health professionals in the field.

Keywords: transactional analysis, movie analysis, drama triangle, games, ego-state

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Authors: Noah Emil Glisik

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated disorder characterized by neurodegenerative processes and a highly variable disease course. Recent research highlights a complex interplay between psychological stress and MS progression, with both acute and chronic stressors linked to heightened inflammatory activity, increased relapse risk, and accelerated disability. This review synthesizes findings from systematic analyses, cohort studies, and neuroimaging investigations to examine how stress contributes to disease dynamics in MS. Evidence suggests that psychological stress influences MS progression through neural and physiological pathways, including dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and heightened activity in specific brain regions, such as the insular cortex. Notably, functional MRI studies indicate that stress-induced neural activity may predict future atrophy in gray matter regions implicated in motor and cognitive function, thus supporting a neurobiological link between stress and neurodegeneration in MS. Longitudinal studies further associate chronic stress with reduced quality of life and higher relapse frequency, emphasizing the need for a multifaceted therapeutic approach that addresses both the physical and psychological dimensions of MS. Evidence from intervention studies suggests that stress management strategies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based programs, may reduce relapse rates and mitigate lesion formation in MS patients. These findings underscore the importance of integrating stress-reducing interventions into standard MS care, with potential to improve disease outcomes and patient well-being. Further research is essential to clarify the causal pathways and develop targeted interventions that could modify the stress response in MS, offering an avenue to address disease progression and enhance quality of life.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, psychological stress, disease progression, neuroimaging, stress management

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Authors: T. Aboumahboub, R. Brecha, H. B. Shrestha, U. F. Hutfilter, A. Geiges, W. Hare, M. Schaeffer, L. Welder, M. Gidden

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The proposed stringent mitigation targets require an immediate start for a drastic transformation of the whole energy system. The current Australian energy system is mainly centralized and fossil fuel-based in most states with coal and gas-fired plants dominating the total produced electricity over the recent past. On the other hand, the country is characterized by a huge, untapped renewable potential, where wind and solar energy could play a key role in the decarbonization of the Australia’s future energy system. However, integrating high shares of such variable renewable energy sources (VRES) challenges the power system considerably due to their temporal fluctuations and geographical dispersion. This raises the concerns about flexibility gap in the system to ensure the security of supply with increasing shares of such intermittent sources. One main flexibility dimension to facilitate system integration of high shares of VRES is to increase the cross-sectoral integration through coupling of electricity to other energy sectors alongside the decarbonization of the power sector and reinforcement of the transmission grid. This paper applies a multi-sectoral energy system optimization model for Australia. We investigate the cost-optimal configuration of a renewable-based Australian energy system and its transformation pathway in line with the ambitious range of proposed climate change mitigation targets. We particularly analyse the implications of linking the electricity and transport sectors in a prospective, highly renewable Australian energy system.

Keywords: decarbonization, energy system modelling, renewable energy, sector coupling

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Authors: Ester Ato, Maria Angeles Fernández-Vilar, Maria Dolores Galián

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The aim of this work was to analyze the relation between children´s effortful control, marital adjustment and parenting practices in a sample of 345 Spanish children aged between 6 and 8 years. Traditionally, the literature confirms that a higher level of marital conflict has been associated with less effective and less positive parenting, but there are few studies that include the effect that children´s effortful control exert to this relation. To measure marital adjustment, parenting practices and children’s temperament, parents were given the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT), the Spanish version of the PCRI (Parent-Child Relationship Inventory), and the TMCQ (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire). The results confirmed that higher marital satisfaction predicted more positive parenting practices, whereas lower marital adjustment scores predicted less parenting support and control. Using a statistical modeling approach, we tested a moderation model that revealed the moderating role of effortful control in the relation between marital adjustment and parenting. Concretely, higher marital satisfaction predicts higher parenting communication and involvement, but only in children with low levels of effortful control. Therefore, a difficult temperament interferes in a less negative way in the family system when parents are satisfied and united. And a better self-regulated child predicts more effective parenting practice regardless of the parents´ marital satisfaction. The clinical implications of the present findings should be considered. Specifically, difficult children must be detected and evaluated in community settings, such as school or community programs, in order to take into account the marital adjustment and parenting practices of their parents, and to be able to design adequate family interventions and prevent future pathologizing patterns.

Keywords: effortful control, marital adjustment, parenting, moderation

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Authors: Piyanee Klainin-Yobas, Debbie Ramirez, Zenaida Fernandez, Jenneth Sarmiento, Wareerat Thanoi, Jeanette Ignacio, Ying Lau

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In many countries, university students experience various stressors that may negatively affect their psychological well-being (PWB). Hence, they are at risk for physical and mental problems. This research aimed to examine the predicting effects of mindfulness, self-efficacy, and social support on psychological well-being among undergraduate students. A non-experimental research was conducted at a university in the Philippines. All students enrolled in undergraduate programs were eligible for this study unless they had chronic medical or mental health problems. Power analysis was used to calculate an adequate sample size and a convenience sampling of 630 was recruited. Data were collected through online self-reported questionnaires from year 2013 to 2015. All self-reported scales used in this study had sound psychometric properties. Descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and structural equation modeling were performed to analyze the research data. Results showed that the participants were mostly Filipino, female, Christian, and in Schools of Nursing. Mindfulness, self-efficacy, support from family, support from friends, and support from significant others were significant predictors of psychological well-being. Mindfulness was the strongest predictor of positive psychological well-being whereas self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of negative psychological well-being. In conclusion, findings from this study add knowledge to the existing literature regarding the predictors of psychological well-being. Psychosocial interventions, with the focus on strengthening mindfulness and self-efficacy, could be delivered to undergraduate students to help them enhance psychological well-being. More studies can be undertaken to test the interventions and multi-centered research can be conducted to enhance generalizability of research findings.

Keywords: mindfulness, self-efficacy, social support, psychological wellbeing

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Authors: Mohammad Arif, Soumen Chatterjee, Krishnendu Gupta

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The peri-urban interface is an area of transition where the urban and rural areas meet and interact. So the peri-urban areas, which is characterized by strong urban influence, easy access to markets, services and other inputs, are ready supplies of labour but distant from the land paucity and pollution related to urban growth. Hence, the present study is primarily aimed at quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of land use/land cover change during the last three decades (i.e., 1987 to 2016) in the peri-urban area of Burdwan city. In the recent past, the morphology of the study region has rapid change due to high growth of population and establishment of industries. The change has predominantly taken place along the State and National Highway 2 (NH-2) and around the Burdwan Municipality for meeting both residential and commercial purposes. To ascertain the degree of change in land use and land cover, over the specified time, satellite imageries and topographical sheets are employed. The data is processed through appropriate software packages to arrive at a deduction that most of the land use changes have occurred by obliterating agricultural land & water bodies and substituting them by built area and industrial spaces. Geospatial analysis of study area showed that this area has experienced a steep increase (30%) of built-up areas and excessive decrease (15%) in croplands between 1987 and 2016. Increase in built-up areas is attributed to the increase of out-migration during this period from the core city. This study also examined social, economic and institutional factors that lead to this rapid land use change in peri-urban areas of the Burdwan city by carrying out a field survey of 250 households in peri-urban areas. The research concludes with an urgency for regulating land subdivisions in peri-urban areas to prevent haphazard land use development. It is expected that the findings of the study would go a long way in facilitating better policy making.

Keywords: growth, land use land cover, morphology, peri-urban, policy making

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Authors: Md. Alauddin, Md. Ruhul Amin, Md. Omar Faruque, Muhammad Ali Siddiquee, Zakir Hossain Howlader, Mohammad Asaduzzaman

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Diabetes and hypertension are the major lifestyle related diseases. The α-amylase and angiotensin converting enzymes (ACE) are the key enzymes that regulate diabetes and hypertension. The aim was to develop a drug for the treatment of diabetes and hypertension. The Rice Bran (RB) sample (Oryza sativa; BRRI-Dhan-84) was collected from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), and rice bran proteins were isolated and hydrolyzed by hydrolyzing enzyme alcalase and trypsin. In vivo experiment suggested that rice bran bioactives has an effect on regulating the expression of several key gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis-regulating genes, such as glucose-6-phosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and fatty acid synthase. The above genes have a connection of regulating the glucose level, lipids profile as well as act as an anti-inflammatory agent. A molecular docking, bioinformatics and in vitro experiments were performed. We found rice bran protein hydrolysates significantly (<0.05) influence the peptide concentration in the case of trypsin, alcalase, and (trypsin + alcalase) digestion. The in vitro analysis found that protein hydrolysate significantly (<0.05) reduced diabetic and hypertension as well as oxidative stress. A molecular docking study showed that the YY and IP peptide have a significantly strong binding affinity to the active site of the ACE enzyme and α-amylase with -7.8Kcal/mol and -6.2Kcal/mol, respectively. The Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and Swiss ADME data analysis showed that less toxicity risk, good physicochemical properties, pharmacokinetics, and drug-likeness with drug scores 0.45 and 0.55 of YY and IP peptides, respectively. Thus, rice bran bioactive could be a good candidate for the treatment of diabetes and hypertension.

Keywords: anti-hypertensive and anti-hyperglycemic, anti-oxidative, bioinformatics, in vitro study, rice bran proteins and peptides

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Authors: Sung Uk Ryu, Byoung Gook Jeon, Sung-Jae Yi, Dong-Jin Euh

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In such passive safety injection systems in the nuclear power plant as Core Makeup Tank (CMT) and Hybrid Safety Injection Tank, various thermal-hydraulic phenomena including the direct contact condensation of steam and the thermal stratification of coolant occur. These phenomena are also closely related to the performance of the system. Depending on the condensation rate of the steam injected to the tank, the injection of the coolant and pressure equalizing timings of the tank are decided. The steam injected to the tank from the upper nozzle penetrates the coolant and induces a direct contact condensation. In the present study, the direct contact condensation of steam and the thermal mixing between the steam and coolant were examined by using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. Especially, by altering the size of the nozzle from which the steam is injected, the influence of steam injection velocity on the thermal mixing with coolant and condensation shall be comprehended, while also investigating the influence of condensation on the pressure variation inside the tank. Even though the amounts of steam inserted were the same in three different nozzle size conditions, it was found that the velocity of pressure rise becomes lower as the steam injection area decreases. Also, as the steam injection area increases, the thickness of the zone within which the coolant’s temperature decreases. Thereby, the amount of steam condensed by the direct contact condensation also decreases. The results derived from the present study can be utilized for the detailed design of a passive safety injection system, as well as for modeling the direct contact condensation triggered by the steam jet’s penetration into the coolant.

Keywords: passive safety injection systems, steam penetration, direct contact condensation, particle image velocimetry

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Authors: Lonna Mabandla, Godfrey Musvoto

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Transportation is a catalytic feature in cities. Transport and land use activity are interdependent and have a feedback loop between how land is developed and how transportation systems are designed and used. This recursive relationship between land use and transportation is reflected in how public transportation routes internal to the inner-city enhance accessibility, therefore creating spaces that are conducive to business activity, while the business activity also informs public transportation routes. It is for this reason that the focus of this research is on public transportation within inner-city areas where the dynamic is evident. Durban is the chosen case study where the dominating form of public transportation within the central business district (CBD) is minibus taxis. The paradox here is that minibus taxis still form part of the informal economy even though they are the leading form of public transportation in South Africa. There have been many attempts to formalise this industry to follow more regulatory practices, but minibus taxis are privately owned, therefore complicating any proposed intervention. The argument of this study is that the application of collaborative planning through a sustainable partnership between the public and private sectors will improve the social and environmental sustainability of public transportation. One of the major challenges that exist within such collaborative endeavors is power dynamics. As a result, a key focus of the study is on power relations. Practically, power relations should be observed over an extended period, specifically when the different stakeholders engage with each other, to reflect valid data. However, a lengthy data collection process was not possible to observe during the data collection phase of this research. Instead, interviews were conducted focusing on existing procedural planning practices between the inner-city minibus taxi association (South and North Beach Taxi Association), the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA), and the eThekwini Town Planning Department. Conclusions and recommendations were then generated based on these data.

Keywords: collaborative planning, sustainability, public transport, minibus taxis

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Authors: Jia Li, Huacong Li, Xiaobao Han

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Due to the more variable geometry parameters of VCE (variable cycle aircraft engine), presents an adaptive controller method based on the full-state linear model of VCE and has simulated to solve the multivariate controller design problem of the whole flight envelops. First, analyzes the static and dynamic performances of bypass ratio and other state parameters caused by variable geometric components, and develops nonlinear component model of VCE. Then based on the component model, through small deviation linearization of main fuel (Wf), the area of tail nozzle throat (A8) and the angle of rear bypass ejector (A163), setting up multiple linear model which variable geometric parameters can be inputs. Second, designs the adaptive controllers for VCE linear models of different nominal points. Among them, considering of modeling uncertainties and external disturbances, derives the adaptive law by lyapunov function. The simulation results showed that, the adaptive controller method based on full-state linear model used the angle of rear bypass ejector as input and effectively solved the multivariate control problems of VCE. The performance of all nominal points could track the desired closed-loop reference instructions. The adjust time was less than 1.2s, and the system overshoot was less than 1%, at the same time, the errors of steady states were less than 0.5% and the dynamic tracking errors were less than 1%. In addition, the designed controller could effectively suppress interference and reached the desired commands with different external random noise signals.

Keywords: variable cycle engine (VCE), full-state linear model, adaptive control, by-pass ratio

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Authors: Lauren C. Porter, Andrew Curtis, Eric Jefferis, Susanne Mitchell

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A wealth of research has been generated examining the variation in crime across neighborhoods. However, there is also a striking degree of crime concentration within neighborhoods. A number of studies show that a small percentage of street segments, intersections, or addresses account for a large portion of crime. Not surprisingly, a focus on these crime hot spots can be an effective strategy for reducing community level crime and related ills, such as health problems. However, research is also limited in an important respect. Studies tend to use official data to identify hot spots, such as 911 calls or calls for service. While the use of call data may be more representative of the actual level and distribution of crime than some other official measures (e.g. arrest data), call data still suffer from the 'dark figure of crime.' That is, there is most certainly a degree of error between crimes that occur versus crimes that are reported to the police. In this study, we present an alternative method of identifying crime hot spots, that does not rely on official data. In doing so, we highlight the potential utility of neighborhood-insiders to identify and understand crime dynamics within geographic spaces. Specifically, we use spatial video and geo-narratives to record the crime insights of 36 police, ex-offenders, and residents of a high crime neighborhood in northeast Ohio. Spatial mentions of crime are mapped to identify participant-identified hot spots, and these are juxtaposed with calls for service (CFS) data. While there are bound to be differences between these two sources of data, we find that one location, in particular, a corner store, emerges as a hot spot for all three groups of participants. Yet it does not emerge when we examine CFS data. A closer examination of the space around this corner store and a qualitative analysis of narrative data reveal important clues as to why this store may indeed be a hot spot, but not generate disproportionate calls to the police. In short, our results suggest that researchers who rely solely on official data to study crime hot spots may risk missing some of the most dangerous places.

Keywords: crime, narrative, video, neighborhood

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Lorena Polovina, Maddy Kennedy-Parrott, Mohammad Fakoor

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The construction industry accounts for approximately 40% of total GHG emissions worldwide. In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, ambitious reductions in the carbon intensity of our buildings are crucial. Passive House presents an opportunity to reduce operational carbon by as much as 90% compared to a traditional building through improving thermal insulation, limiting thermal bridging, increasing airtightness and heat recovery. Up until recently, Passive House design was mainly concerned with meeting the energy demands without considering embodied carbon. As buildings become more energy-efficient, embodied carbon becomes more significant. The main objective of this research is to calculate the embodied carbon impact of a Passive House and compare it with the BC Energy Step Code (ESC). British Columbia is committed to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through the ESC, which is targeting net-zero energy-ready buildings by 2032. However, there is a knowledge gap in the embodied carbon impacts of more energy-efficient buildings, in particular Part 3 construction. In this case study, life cycle assessments (LCA) are performed on Part 3, a multi-unit residential building in Victoria, BC. The actual building is not constructed to the Passive House standard; however, the building envelope and mechanical systems are designed to comply with the Passive house criteria, as well as Steps 1 and 4 of the BC Energy Step Code (ESC) for comparison. OneClick LCA is used to perform the LCA of the case studies. Several strategies are also proposed to minimize the total carbon emissions of the building. The assumption is that there will not be significant differences in embodied carbon between a Passive House and a Step 4 building due to the building envelope.

Keywords: embodied carbon, energy modeling, energy step code, life cycle assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: S. Kealy, J. Louys, S. O’Connor

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The island archipelago that stretches between the continents of Sunda (Southeast Asia) and Sahul (Australia - New Guinea) and comprising much of modern-day Indonesia as well as Timor-Leste, represents the biogeographic region of Wallacea. The islands of Wallaea are significant archaeologically as they have never been connected to the mainlands of either Sunda or Sahul, and thus the colonization by early modern humans of these islands and subsequently Australia and New Guinea, would have necessitated some form of water crossings. Accurate palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Wallacean Archipelago for this time are important not only for modeling likely routes of colonization but also for reconstructing likely landscapes and hence resources available to the first colonists. Here we present five digital reconstructions of coastal outlines of Wallacea and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) for the periods 65, 60, 55, 50, and 45,000 years ago using the latest bathometric chart and a sea-level model that is adjusted to account for the average uplift rate known from Wallacea. This data was also used to reconstructed island areal extent as well as topography for each time period. These reconstructions allowed us to determine the distance from the coast and relative elevation of the earliest archaeological sites for each island where such records exist. This enabled us to approximate how much effort exploitation of coastal resources would have taken for early colonists, and how important such resources were. These reconstructions also allowed us to estimate visibility for each island in the archipelago, and to model how intervisible each island was during the period of likely human colonisation. We demonstrate how these models provide archaeologists with an important basis for visualising this ancient landscape and interpreting how it was originally viewed, traversed and exploited by its earliest modern human inhabitants.

Keywords: Wallacea, palaeogeographic reconstructions, islands, intervisibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Esubalew Yehualaw Melaku, Tigistu Haile Eritro

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In this study, two basic geophysical methods are applied for mapping the groundwater aquifer system in the Lisana area along the Guder River, northeast of Hosanna town, near the western margin of the Central Main Ethiopian Rift. The main target of the study is to map the potential aquifer zone and investigate the groundwater potential for current and future development of the resource in the Gode area. The geophysical methods employed in this study include, Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and magnetic survey techniques. Electrical sounding was used to examine and map the depth to the potential aquifer zone of the groundwater and its distribution over the area. On the other hand, a magnetic survey was used to delineate contact between lithologic units and geological structures. The 2D magnetic modeling and the geoelectric sections are used for the identification of weak zones, which control the groundwater flow and storage system. The geophysical survey comprises of twelve VES readings collected by using a Schlumberger array along six profile lines and more than four hundred (400) magnetic readings at about 10m station intervals along four profiles and 20m along three random profiles. The study result revealed that the potential aquifer in the area is obtained at a depth range from 45m to 92m. This is the response of the highly weathered/ fractured ignimbrite and pumice layer with sandy soil, which is the main water-bearing horizon. Overall, in the neighborhood of four VES points, VES- 2, VES- 3, VES-10, and VES-11, shows good water-bearing zones in the study area.

Keywords: vertical electrical sounding, magnetic survey, aquifer, groundwater potential

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Akram Mahdaviparsa, Tamera McCuen, Vahideh Karimimansoob

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Fire service is responsible for protecting life, assets, and natural resources from fire and other hazardous incidents. Search and rescue in unfamiliar buildings is a vital part of firefighters’ responsibilities. Providing firefighters with precise building information in an easy-to-understand format is a potential solution for mitigating the negative consequences of fire hazards. The negative effect of insufficient knowledge about a building’s indoor environment impedes firefighters’ capabilities and leads to lost property. A data rich building information modeling (BIM) is a potentially useful source in three-dimensional (3D) visualization and data/information storage for fire emergency response. Therefore, this research’s purpose is prioritizing the required information for firefighters from the most important information to the least important. A survey was carried out with firefighters working in the Norman Fire Department to obtain the importance of each building information item. The results show that “the location of exit doors, windows, corridors, elevators, and stairs”, “material of building elements”, and “building data” are the three most important information specified by firefighters. The results also implied that the 2D model of architectural, structural and way finding is more understandable in comparison with the 3D model, while the 3D model of MEP system could convey more information than the 2D model. Furthermore, color in visualization can help firefighters to understand the building information easier and quicker. Sufficient internal consistency of all responses was proven through developing the Pearson Correlation Matrix and obtaining Cronbach’s alpha of 0.916. Therefore, the results of this study are reliable and could be applied to the population.

Keywords: BIM, building fire response, ranking, visualization

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Jiří F. Urbánek, David Král

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Small and Middle Enterprises (SME) have a specific mission, characteristics, and behavior in global business competitive environments. They must respect policy, rules, requirements and standards in all their inherent and outer processes of supply - customer chains and networks. Paper aims and purposes are to introduce computational assistance, which enables us the using of prevailing operation system MS Office (SmartArt...) for mathematical models, using DYVELOP (Dynamic Vector Logistics of Processes) method. It is providing for SMS´s global environment the capability and profit to achieve its commitment regarding the effectiveness of the quality management system in customer requirements meeting and also the continual improvement of the organization’s and SME´s processes overall performance and efficiency, as well as its societal security via continual planning improvement. DYVELOP model´s maps - the Blazons are able mathematically - graphically express the relationships among entities, actors, and processes, including the discovering and modeling of the cycling cases and their phases. The blazons need live PowerPoint presentation for better comprehension of this paper mission – added value analysis. The crisis management of SMEs is obliged to use the cycles for successful coping of crisis situations.  Several times cycling of these cases is a necessary condition for the encompassment of the both the emergency event and the mitigation of organization´s damages. Uninterrupted and continuous cycling process is a good indicator and controlling actor of SME continuity and its sustainable development advanced possibilities.

Keywords: blazons, computational assistance, DYVELOP method, small and middle enterprises

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Gorazd Karer

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When performing a diagnostic procedure or surgery in general anesthesia (GA), a proper introduction and dosing of anesthetic agents are one of the main tasks of the anesthesiologist. However, depth of anesthesia (DoA) also seems to be a suitable process for closed-loop control implementation. To implement such a system, one must be able to acquire the relevant signals online and in real-time, as well as stream the calculated control signal to the infusion pump. However, during a procedure, patient monitors and infusion pumps are purposely unable to connect to an external (possibly medically unapproved) device for safety reasons, thus preventing closed-loop control. The paper proposes a conceptual solution to the aforementioned problem. First, it presents some important aspects of contemporary clinical practice. Next, it introduces the closed-loop-control-system structure and the relevant information flow. Focusing on transferring the data from the patient to the computer, it presents a non-invasive image-based system for signal acquisition from a patient monitor for online depth-of-anesthesia assessment. Furthermore, it introduces a UDP-based communication method that can be used for transmitting the calculated anesthetic inflow to the infusion pump. The proposed system is independent of a medical device manufacturer and is implemented in Matlab-Simulink, which can be conveniently used for DoA control implementation. The proposed scheme has been tested in a simulated GA setting and is ready to be evaluated in an operating theatre. However, the proposed system is only a step towards a proper closed-loop control system for DoA, which could routinely be used in clinical practice.

Keywords: closed-loop control, depth of anesthesia (DoA), modeling, optical signal acquisition, patient state index (PSi), UDP communication protocol

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Mustafa Salman, Nurcan Cetinkaya, Zehra Selcuk, Bugra Genc

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The objectives of the present study were to estimate the microbial-N flow to the small intestine and to predict the digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) in grazing Karayaka sheep based on urinary excretion of purine derivatives (xanthine, hypoxanthine, uric acid, and allantoin) by the use of spot urine sampling under field conditions. In the trial, 10 Karayaka sheep from 2 to 3 years of age were used. The animals were grazed in a pasture for ten months and fed with concentrate and vetch plus oat hay for the other two months (January and February) indoors. Highly significant linear and cubic relationships (P<0.001) were found among months for purine derivatives index, purine derivatives excretion, purine derivatives absorption, microbial-N and DOMI. Through urine sampling and the determination of levels of excreted urinary PD and Purine Derivatives / Creatinine ratio (PDC index), microbial-N values were estimated and they indicated that the protein nutrition of the sheep was insufficient. In conclusion, the prediction of protein nutrition of sheep under the field conditions may be possible with the use of spot urine sampling, urinary excreted PD and PDC index. The mean purine derivative levels in spot urine samples from sheep were highest in June, July and October. Protein nutrition of pastured sheep may be affected by weather changes, including rainfall. Spot urine sampling may useful in modeling the feed consumption of pasturing sheep. However, further studies are required under different field conditions with different breeds of sheep to develop spot urine sampling as a model.

Keywords: Karayaka sheep, spot sampling, urinary purine derivatives, PDC index, microbial-N, feed intake

Procedia PDF Downloads 528

Authors: Kumara Jayapathma J. H. M. S. S., Dampegama S. D. P. J.

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Lands are valuable & limited resource which constantly changes with the growth of the population. An efficient and good land management system is essential to avoid conflicts associated with lands. This paper aims to design the prototype model of a Mobile GIS Land use and Land Information System in real-time. Homagama Divisional Secretariat Division situated in the western province of Sri Lanka was selected as the study area. The prototype model was developed after reviewing related literature. The methodology was consisted of designing and modeling the prototype model into an application running on a mobile platform. The system architecture mainly consists of a Google mapping app for real-time updates with firebase support tools. Thereby, the method of implementation consists of front-end and back-end components. Software tools used in designing applications are Android Studio with JAVA based on GeoJSON File structure. Android Studio with JAVA in GeoJSON File Synchronize to Firebase was found to be the perfect mobile solution for continuously updating Land use and Land Information System (LIS) in real-time in the present scenario. The mobile-based land use and LIS developed in this study are multiple user applications catering to different hierarchy levels such as basic users, supervisory managers, and database administrators. The benefits of this mobile mapping application will help public sector field officers with non-GIS expertise to overcome the land use planning challenges with land use updated in real-time.

Keywords: Android, Firebase, GeoJSON, GIS, JAVA, JSON, LIS, Mobile GIS, real-time, REST API

Procedia PDF Downloads 229