Search results for: hybrid storage system

Authors: Arum Perwitasari

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Learning L2 sounds is influenced by the first language (L1) sound system. This current study seeks to examine how the listeners with a different L1 vowel system perceive L2 sounds. The fact that English has a bigger number of vowel inventory than Javanese and Sundanese L1 might cause problems for Javanese and Sundanese English language learners perceiving English sounds. To reveal the L2 sound perception over time, we measured the mouse trajectories related to the hand movements made by Javanese and Sundanese language learners, two of Indonesian local languages. Do the Javanese and Sundanese listeners show higher velocity than the English listeners when they perceive English vowels which are similar and new to their L1 system? The study aims to map the patterns of real-time processing through compatible hand movements to reveal any uncertainties when making selections. The results showed that the Javanese listeners exhibited significantly slower velocity values than the English listeners for similar vowels /I, ɛ, ʊ/ in the 826-1200ms post stimulus. Unlike the Javanese, the Sundanese listeners showed slow velocity values except for similar vowel /ʊ/. For the perception of new vowels /i:, æ, ɜ:, ʌ, ɑː, u:, ɔ:/, the Javanese listeners showed slower velocity in making the lexical decision. In contrast, the Sundanese listeners showed slow velocity only for vowels /ɜ:, ɔ:, æ, I/ indicating that these vowels are hard to perceive. Our results fit well with the second language model representing how the L1 vowel system influences the L2 sound perception.

Keywords: velocity profiles, EFL learners, speech perception, experimental linguistics

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Authors: R. Vigneswaran, S. Thilakanathan

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Variable time-stepping algorithms for solving dynamical systems performed poorly for long time computations which pass close to a fixed point. To overcome this difficulty, several authors considered phase space error controls for numerical simulation of dynamical systems. In one generalized phase space error control, a step-size selection scheme was proposed, which allows this error control to be incorporated into the standard adaptive algorithm as an extra constraint at negligible extra computational cost. For this generalized error control, it was already analyzed the forward Euler method applied to the linear system whose coefficient matrix has real and negative eigenvalues. In this paper, this result was extended to the linear system whose coefficient matrix has complex eigenvalues with negative real parts. Some theoretical results were obtained and numerical experiments were carried out to support the theoretical results.

Keywords: adaptivity, fixed point, long time simulations, stability, linear system

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Authors: M. Abu Hanif, Anika Tabassum, Fuad Hasan Ovi, Ishrat Islam

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Water is essential for life. Enormous quantities of water are cycled each year through hydrologic cycle but only a fraction of circulated water is available each year for human use. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is the 19th mega city in the world with a population of over 14 million (World City Information, 2011). As a result the growth of urban population is increasing rapidly; the city is not able to manage with altering situations due to resource limitations and management capacity. Water crisis has become an acute problem faced by the inhabitants of Dhaka city. It is found that total water demand in Dhaka city is 2,240 million liter per day (MLD) whereas supply is 2,150 (MLD). According to Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority about 87 percent of this supply comes from groundwater resources and rest 13 percent from surface water. According to Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority it has been found that the current groundwater depletion rate is 3.52 meter per year. Such a fast depletion of the water table will result in intrusion of southern saline water into the groundwater reservoir, depriving this mega city of pure drinking water. This study mainly focus on the potential of Rainwater Harvesting System(RWHS) in Kazipara area of Dhaka city, determine the perception level of local people in installation of rainwater harvesting system in their building and identify the factors regarding willingness of owner in installing rainwater harvesting system. As most of the residential area of Dhaka city is unplanned with small plots, Kazipara area has been chosen as study area which depicts similar characteristics. In this study only roof top area is considered as catchment area and potential of rainwater harvesting has been calculated. From the calculation it is found that harvested rainwater can serve the 66% of demand of water for toilet flushing and cleaning purposes for the people of Kazipara. It is also observed that if only rooftop rainwater harvesting applied to all the structures of the study area then two third of surface runoff would be reduced than present surface runoff. In determining the perception of local people only owners of the buildings were. surveyed. From the questionnaire survey it is found that around 75% people have no idea about the rainwater harvesting system. About 83% people are not willing to install rainwater harvesting system in their dwelling. The reasons behind the unwillingness are high cost of installation, inadequate space, ignorance about the system, etc. Among 16% of the willing respondents who are interested in installing RWHS system, it was found that higher income, bigger size of buildings are important factors in willingness of installing rainwater harvesting system. Majority of the respondents demanded for both technical and economical support to install the system in their buildings. Government of Bangladesh has taken some initiatives to promote rainwater harvesting in urban areas. It is very much necessary to incorporate rainwater harvesting device and artificial recharge system in every building of Dhaka city to make Dhaka city self sufficient in water supply management and to solve water crisis problem of megacity like as Dhaka city.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting, water table, willingness, storm water

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Authors: Nadeem Yousuf Khan

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This paper proposes the formation of a digital emergency response system (dERS) in the aged, long-term care, and chronic disease setups in the post-COVID healthcare ecosystem, focusing on the Asia Pacific market where the aging population is increasing significantly. It focuses on the use of digital technologies such as wearables, a global positioning system (GPS), and mobile applications to build an integrated care system for old folks with co-morbidities and other chronic diseases. The paper presents a conceptual framework of a connected digital health ecosystem that not only provides proactive care to registered patients but also prevents the damages due to sudden conditions such as strokes by alerting and treating the patients in a digitally connected and coordinated manner. A detailed review of existing digital health technologies such as wearables, GPS, and mobile apps was conducted in context with the new post-COVID healthcare paradigm, along with a detailed literature review on the digital health policies and usability. A good amount of research papers is available in the application of digital health, but very few of them discuss the formation of a new framework for a connected digital ecosystem for the aged care population, which is increasing around the globe. A connected digital emergency response system has been proposed by the author whereby all registered patients (chronic disease and aged/long term care) will be connected to the proposed digital emergency response system (dERS). In the proposed ecosystem, patients will be provided with a tracking wrist band and a mobile app through which the control room will be monitoring the mobility and vitals such as atrial fibrillation (AF), blood sugar, blood pressure, and other vital signs. In addition to that, an alert in case if the patient falls down will add value to this system. In case of any variation in the vitals, an alert is sent to the dERS 24/7, and dERS clinical staff immediately trigger that alert which goes to the connected hospital and the adulatory service providers, and the patient is escorted to the nearest connected tertiary care hospital. By the time, the patient reaches the hospital, dERS team is ready to take appropriate clinical action to save the life of the patient. Strokes or myocardial infarction patients can be prevented from disaster if they are accessible to engagement healthcare. This dERS will play an effective role in saving the lives of aged patients or patients with chronic co-morbidities.

Keywords: aged care, atrial fibrillation, digital health, digital emergency response system, digital technology

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Authors: Gunasekaran Raja, Ramkumar Jayaraman, Rajakumar Arul, Kottilingam Kottursamy

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Broadband Wireless Network (BWN) is the promising technology nowadays due to the increased number of smartphones. Buffering scheme using network coding considers the reliability and proper degree distribution in Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) multi-hop network. Using network coding, a secure way of transmission is performed which helps in improving throughput and reduces the packet loss in the multicast network. At the outset, improved network coding is proposed in multicast wireless mesh network. Considering the problem of performance overhead, degree distribution makes a decision while performing buffer in the encoding / decoding process. Consequently, BuS (Buffer Scheme) based on network coding is proposed in the multi-hop network. Here the encoding process introduces buffer for temporary storage to transmit packets with proper degree distribution. The simulation results depend on the number of packets received in the encoding/decoding with proper degree distribution using buffering scheme.

Keywords: encoding and decoding, buffer, network coding, degree distribution, broadband wireless networks, multicast

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Authors: Farhad Asadi, Mohammad Javad Mollakazemi

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In this paper, Bayesian online inference in models of data series are constructed by change-points algorithm, which separated the observed time series into independent series and study the change and variation of the regime of the data with related statistical characteristics. variation of statistical characteristics of time series data often represent separated phenomena in the some dynamical system, like a change in state of brain dynamical reflected in EEG signal data measurement or a change in important regime of data in many dynamical system. In this paper, prediction algorithm for studying change point location in some time series data is simulated. It is verified that pattern of proposed distribution of data has important factor on simpler and smother fluctuation of hazard rate parameter and also for better identification of change point locations. Finally, the conditions of how the time series distribution effect on factors in this approach are explained and validated with different time series databases for some dynamical system.

Keywords: time series, fluctuation in statistical characteristics, optimal learning, change-point algorithm

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Authors: Tamás Matuszka, Attila Kiss

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Due the proliferation of smartphones in everyday use, several different outdoor navigation systems have become available. Since these smartphones are able to connect to the Internet, the users can obtain location-based information during the navigation as well. The users could interactively get to know the specifics of a particular area (for instance, ancient cultural area, Statue Park, cemetery) with the help of thus obtained information. In this paper, we present an Augmented Reality system which uses Semantic Web technologies and is based on the interaction between the user and the smartphone. The system allows navigating through a specific area and provides information and details about the sight an interactive manner.

Keywords: augmented reality, semantic web, human computer interaction, mobile application

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Authors: Abdessalem Abbassi, Ahlem Dakhlaoui, Lota D. Tamini

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In this paper, we analyze infinite discrete-time games between hydraulic and thermal power operators in the wholesale electricity market under Cournot competition. We consider a deregulated electrical industry where certain demand is satisfied by hydraulic and thermal technologies. The hydraulic operator decides the production in each season of each period that maximizes the sum of expected profits from power generation with respect to the stochastic dynamic constraint on the water stored in the dam, the environmental constraint and the non-negative output constraint. In contrast, the thermal plant is operated with quadratic cost function, with respect to the capacity production constraint and the non-negativity output constraint. We show that under imperfect competition, the hydraulic operator has a strategic storage of water in the peak season. Then, we quantify the strategic inter-annual and intra-annual water transfer and compare the numerical results. Finally, we show that the thermal operator can restrict the hydraulic output without compensation.

Keywords: asymmetric risk aversion, electricity wholesale market, hydropower dams, imperfect competition

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Authors: Yuxin Wu, Yu-Shing Wang, Zitao Zhang

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A high-speed and time-lapse S-wave velocity measurement system has been built up for S-wave tomography in sand. This system is based on bender elements and applied to model pile tests in a tailor-made pressurized chamber to monitor the shear wave velocity distribution during pile installation in sand. Tactile pressure sensors are used parallel together with bender elements to monitor the stress changes during the tests. Strain gages are used to monitor the shaft resistance and toe resistance of pile. Since the shear wave velocity (Vs) is determined by the shear modulus of sand and the shaft resistance of pile is also influenced by the shear modulus of sand around the pile, the purposes of this study are to time-lapse monitor the S-wave velocity distribution change at a certain horizontal section during pile installation and to correlate the S-wave velocity distribution and shaft resistance of pile in sand.

Keywords: bender element, pile, shaft resistance, shear wave velocity, tomography

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Authors: Ying-Pin Chang

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This paper presents a method for combining a particle swarm optimization with nonlinear time-varying evolution and orthogonal arrays (PSO-NTVEOA) in the planning of harmonic filters for the high speed railway traction system with specially connected transformers in unbalanced three-phase power systems. The objective is to minimize the cost of the filter, the filters loss, the total harmonic distortion of currents and voltages at each bus simultaneously. An orthogonal array is first conducted to obtain the initial solution set. The set is then treated as the initial training sample. Next, the PSO-NTVEOA method parameters are determined by using matrix experiments with an orthogonal array, in which a minimal number of experiments would have an effect that approximates the full factorial experiments. This PSO-NTVEOA method is then applied to design optimal harmonic filters in Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) traction system, where both rectifiers and inverters with IGBT are used. From the results of the illustrative examples, the feasibility of the PSO-NTVEOA to design an optimal passive harmonic filter of THSR system is verified and the design approach can greatly reduce the harmonic distortion. Three design schemes are compared that V-V connection suppressing the 3rd order harmonic, and Scott and Le Blanc connection for the harmonic improvement is better than the V-V connection.

Keywords: harmonic filters, particle swarm optimization, nonlinear time-varying evolution, orthogonal arrays, specially connected transformers

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Authors: Raymond Li

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In this project a web-based classroom response system (CRS) was used in the teaching an intermediate level economics course. This system allows the instructor to post a question on the screen and students to answer questions using their own electronic mobile devices. The questions and the results summarizing student responses can be shown to students simultaneously and the instructor can make timely feedback to students in class. CRS gives students a chance to respond to the instructor’s question privately, encouraging students who might not typically speak up in class to express their thoughts and opinions. There is a vast literature on the advantages and challenges of using CRS. However, empirical evidence on the student attributes that increase the effectiveness of CRS in improving student learning outcomes is sparse. The purpose of this project is to (1) find out if the use of CRS is beneficial to students taking economics, and (2) discover key student attributes that will likely make CRS more effective. Students’ performance in examinations and an end-of-semester questionnaire were used to assess the effectiveness of CRS in this project. Comparing the examination scores of the CRS treatment group and control group, the treatment group performed considerably better and statistically significant differences were found basing on paired t-tests on the differences. According to the questionnaire results, around 75% of the students in the treatment group generally agreed that CRS allowed them to express their views more freely. We also observed that students who prefer to use instant messaging rather than making conversations are generally more positive towards CRS. The use of CRS also benefits the instructor – students’ rating of the instructor in the teaching evaluation was significantly higher for the CRS treatment group.

Keywords: education technology, classroom response system, student attributes, economics education

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Authors: Lidia Lombardi

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Waste management in Europe and North America is evolving towards sustainable materials management, intended as a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. Various waste management strategies are prioritized and ranked from the most to the least environmentally preferred, placing emphasis on reducing, reusing, and recycling as key to sustainable materials management. However, non-recyclable materials must also be appropriately addressed, and waste-to-energy (WtE) offers a solution to manage them, especially when a WtE plant is integrated within a complex system of waste and wastewater treatment plants and potential users of the output flows. To evaluate the environmental effects of such system integration, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a helpful and powerful tool. LCA has been largely applied to the waste management sector, dating back to the late 1990s, producing a large number of theoretical studies and applications to the real world as support to waste management planning. However, LCA still has a fundamental role in helping the development of waste management systems supporting decisions. Thus, LCA was applied to evaluate the environmental performances of a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management system, with improved separate material collection and recycling and an integrated network of treatment plants including WtE, anaerobic digestion (AD) and also wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), for a reference study case area. The proposed system was compared to the actual situation, characterized by poor recycling, large landfilling and absence of WtE. The LCA results showed that the increased recycling significantly increases the environmental performances, but there is still room for improvement through the introduction of energy recovery (especially by WtE) and through its use within the system, for instance, by feeding the heat to the AD, to sludge recovery processes and supporting the water reuse practice. WtE offers a solution to manage non-recyclable MSW and allows saving important resources (such as landfill volumes and non-renewable energy), reducing the contribution to global warming, and providing an essential contribution to fulfill the goals of really sustainable waste management.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, life cycle assessment, waste-to-energy, municipal solid waste

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Authors: Alok Saini, Rajkumar Ghosh

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Water is nature's important resource for survival of all living things, but freshwater scarcity exists in some parts of world. This study has predicted that Gomti Nagar area (49.2 sq. km.) will harvest about 91110 ML of rainwater till 2051 (assuming constant and present annual rainfall). But 17.71 ML of rainwater was harvested from only 53 buildings in Gomti Nagar area in the year 2021. Water level will be increased (rise) by 13 cm in Gomti Nagar from such groundwater recharge. The total annual groundwater abstraction from Gomti Nagar area was 35332 ML (in 2021). Due to hydrogeological constraints and lower annual rainfall, groundwater recharge is less than groundwater abstraction. The recent scenario is only 0.07% of rainwater recharges by RTRWHs in Gomti Nagar. But if RTRWHs would be installed in all buildings then 12.39% of rainwater could recharge groundwater table in Gomti Nagar area. But if RTRWHs would be installed in all buildings then 12.39% of rainwater could recharge groundwater table in Gomti Nagar area. Gomti Nagar is situated in 'Zone–A' (water distribution area) and groundwater is the primary source of freshwater supply. Current scenario indicates only 0.07% of rainwater recharges by RTRWHs in Gomti Nagar. In Gomti Nagar, the difference between groundwater abstraction and recharge will be 735570 ML in 30 yrs. Statistically, all buildings at Gomti Nagar (new and renovated) could harvest 3037 ML of rainwater through RTRWHs annually. The most recent monsoonal recharge in Gomti Nagar was 10813 ML/yr. Harvested rainwater collected from RTRWHs can be used for rooftop irrigation, and residential kitchen and gardens (home grown fruit and vegetables). According to bylaws, RTRWH installations are required in both newly constructed and existing buildings plot areas of 300 sq. m or above. Harvested rainwater is of higher quality than contaminated groundwater. Harvested rainwater from RTRWHs can be considered water self-sufficient. Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RTRWHs) are least expensive, eco-friendly, most sustainable, and alternative water resource for artificial recharge. This study also predicts about 3.9 m of water level rise in Gomti Nagar area till 2051, only when all buildings will install RTRWHs and harvest for groundwater recharging. As a result, this current study responds to an impact assessment study of RTRWHs implementation for the water scarcity problem in the Gomti Nagar area (1.36 sq.km.). This study suggests that common storage tanks (recharge wells) should be built for a group of at least ten (10) households and optimal amount of harvested rainwater will be stored annually. Artificial recharge from alternative water sources will be required to improve the declining water level trend and balance the groundwater table in this area. This over-exploitation of groundwater may lead to land subsidence, and development of vertical cracks.

Keywords: aquifer, aquitard, artificial recharge, bylaws, groundwater, monsoon, rainfall, rooftop rainwater harvesting system, RTRWHs water table, water level

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Razwan Ahmed Tanvir, Greg Speegle

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Collaborative blockchain ecosystems allow diverse groups to cooperate on tasks while providing properties such as decentralization and transaction security. We provide a model that uses a repository blockchain to manage hard forks within a collaborative system such that a single process (assuming that it has knowledge of the requirements of each fork) can access all of the blocks within the system. The repository blockchain replaces the need for Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) within the ecosystem by navigating the networks. The resulting construction resembles a tree instead of a chain. A proof-of-concept implementation performs a depth-first search on the new structure.

Keywords: hard fork, shared governance, inter blockchain communication, blockchain ecosystem, regular research paper

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Authors: Mohammed H. Karim, Bestoon M. Faraj

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Introduction: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a Dynamic Navigation System (DNS) and a three-dimensional microscope in retrieving broken rotary NiTi files when using trepan burs and the extractor system. Materials and Methods: Thirty maxillary first bicuspids with sixty separate roots were split into two comparable groups based on a comprehensive Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) analysis of the root length and curvature. After standardized access opening, glide paths, and patency attainment with the K file (sizes 10 and 15), the teeth were arranged on 3D models (three per quadrant, six per model). Subsequently, controlled-memory heat-treated NiTi rotary files (#25/0.04) were notched 4 mm from the tips and fractured at the apical third of the roots. The C-FR1 Endo file removal system was employed under both guidance to retrieve the fragments, and the success rate, canal aberration, treatment time and volumetric changes were measured. The statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The microscope-guided group had a higher success rate than the DNS guidance, but the difference was insignificant (p > 0.05). In addition, the microscope-guided drills resulted in a substantially lower proportion of canal aberration, required less time to retrieve the fragments and caused minimal change in the root canal volume (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although dynamically guided trephining with the extractor can retrieve separated instruments, it is inferior to three-dimensional microscope guidance regarding treatment time, procedural errors, and volume change.

Keywords: separated instruments retrieval, dynamic navigation system, 3D video microscope, trephine burs, extractor

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Authors: Eugenia P. Ramirez, Kevin Matthe Caramancion, Mia Eleazar

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Getting the attention of students is a constant challenge to the instructors/lecturers. Although in the computer laboratories some networking and entertainment websites are blocked, yet, these websites have unlimited ways of attracting students to get into it. Thus, when an instructor gives a specific set of instructions, some students may not be able to follow sequentially the steps that are given. The instructor has to physically go to the specific remote terminal and show the student the details. Sometimes, during an examination in laboratory set-up, a proctor may prefer to give detailed and text-written instructions rather than verbal instructions. Even the mere calling of a specific student at any time will distract the whole class especially when activities are being performed. What is needed is : An application software that is able to lock the student's monitor and at the same time display the instructor’s screen; a software that is powerful enough to process in its side alone and manipulate a specific user’s terminal in terms of free configuration that is, without restrictions at the server level is a required functionality for a modern and optimal server structure; a software that is able to send text messages to students, per terminal or in group will be a solution. These features are found in LabSupport. This paper outlines the LabSupport application software framework to efficiently manage computer laboratory sessions and will include different modules: screen viewer, demonstration mode, monitor locking system, text messaging, and class management. This paper's ultimate aim is to provide a system that increases instructor productivity.

Keywords: application software, broadcast messaging, class management, locking system

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Authors: Jiji Jose, R. Narayanacharyulu, Molly Mathew, Jisha Prems

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Introduction: Lercanidipine hydrochloride (LD), an effective calcium channel blocker, widely used for the treatment of chronic stable angina and hypertension seems to be potential transdermal therapeutic system candidate, mainly due to its low oral bio availability, short half life and high first-pass metabolism. Objective: To develop transdermal therapeutic systems for LD and to evaluate its in vivo performance in rabbits. Methodology: Transdermal patches of LD were formulated using the polymer blend of eudragit RL100 (ERL) and polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) by casting method Propylene glycol (PG) and tween 80 were used as plasticizer and permeation enhancer respectively. The pharmaco kinetic parameters of LD after the administration of transdermal patches was compared with that of oral administration. The study was carried out in a two way crossover design in male New Zealand albino rabbits. Results: The formulation with ERL: PVP ratio 1:4 with 15% w/w PG as plasticizer and 4% w/w tween 80 as permeation enhancer showed the best drug release results. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as Cmax, tmax, mean residence time (MRT) and area under the curve (AUC 0-∞) were significantly different following transdermal administration compared to oral administration. The terminal half life of transdermally administered LD was found to similar that of oral administration. A sustained drug release over a period of 24 hrs was observed after transdermal administration. Conclusion: The fabricated transdermal delivery system have the potential to provide controlled and extended drug release, better bio availability and thus, this may improve the patient compliance.

Keywords: transdermal therapeutic system, lercanidipine hydrochloride, eudragit, skinpermeation

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Authors: R. Rajabpour, N. Talebbeydokhti, M. H. Ahmadi

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Carefully scheduling the operations of pumps can be resulted to significant energy savings. Schedules can be defined either implicit, in terms of other elements of the network such as tank levels, or explicit by specifying the time during which each pump is on/off. In this study, two new explicit representations based on time-controlled triggers were analyzed, where the maximum number of pump switches was established beforehand, and the schedule may contain fewer switches than the maximum. The optimal operation of pumping stations was determined using a Jumping Particle Swarm Optimization (JPSO) algorithm to achieve the minimum energy cost. The model integrates JPSO optimizer and EPANET hydraulic network solver. The optimal pump operation schedule of VanZyl water distribution system was determined using the proposed model and compared with those from Genetic and Ant Colony algorithms. The results indicate that the proposed model utilizing the JPSP algorithm outperformed the others and is a versatile management model for the operation of real-world water distribution system.

Keywords: JPSO, operation, optimization, water distribution system

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Authors: Ainur Bulasheva

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During the last decade, the dual learning system (DLS) has been actively introduced in various industries in Kazakhstan, including both vocational, post-secondary, and higher education levels. It is a relatively new practice-oriented approach to training qualified personnel in Kazakhstan, officially introduced in 2012. Dual learning was integrated from the German vocational education and training system, combining practical training with part-time work in production and training in an educational institution. The policy of DLS has increasingly focused on decreasing youth unemployment and the shortage of mid-level professionals by providing incentives for employers to involve in this system. By participating directly in the educational process, the enterprise strives to train its future personnel to meet fast-changing market demands. This study examines the effectiveness of DLS from the perspective of employers to understand the motivations of businesses to participate (invest) in this program. The human capital theory of Backer, which predicts that employers will invest in training their workers (in our case, dual students) when they expect that the return on investment will be greater than the cost - acts as a starting point. Further extensionists of this theory will be considered to understand investing intentions of businesses. By comparing perceptions of DLS employers and non-dual practices, this study determines the efficiency of promoted training approach for enterprises in the Kazakhstan agri-food industry.

Keywords: vocational and technical education, dualeducation, human capital theory, argi-food industry

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Authors: Jana Abu Ahmada, Zaineb Mohamed, Ilyasse Aksikas

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The linear quadratic control system of hyperbolic first order partial differential equations (PDEs) are presented. The aim of this research is to control chemical reactions. This is achieved by converting the PDEs system to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using the method of characteristics to reduce the system to control it by using the integral reinforcement learning. The designed controller is applied to a catalytic cracking reactor. Background—Transport-Reaction systems cover a large chemical and bio-chemical processes. They are best described by nonlinear PDEs derived from mass and energy balances. As a main application to be considered in this work is the catalytic cracking reactor. Indeed, the cracking reactor is widely used to convert high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and others. On the other hand, control of PDEs systems is an important and rich area of research. One of the main control techniques is feedback control. This type of control utilizes information coming from the system to correct its trajectories and drive it to a desired state. Moreover, feedback control rejects disturbances and reduces the variation effects on the plant parameters. Linear-quadratic control is a feedback control since the developed optimal input is expressed as feedback on the system state to exponentially stabilize and drive a linear plant to the steady-state while minimizing a cost criterion. The integral reinforcement learning policy iteration technique is a strong method that solves the linear quadratic regulator problem for continuous-time systems online in real time, using only partial information about the system dynamics (i.e. the drift dynamics A of the system need not be known), and without requiring measurements of the state derivative. This is, in effect, a direct (i.e. no system identification procedure is employed) adaptive control scheme for partially unknown linear systems that converges to the optimal control solution. Contribution—The goal of this research is to Develop a characteristics-based optimal controller for a class of hyperbolic PDEs and apply the developed controller to a catalytic cracking reactor model. In the first part, developing an algorithm to control a class of hyperbolic PDEs system will be investigated. The method of characteristics will be employed to convert the PDEs system into a system of ODEs. Then, the control problem will be solved along the characteristic curves. The reinforcement technique is implemented to find the state-feedback matrix. In the other half, applying the developed algorithm to the important application of a catalytic cracking reactor. The main objective is to use the inlet fraction of gas oil as a manipulated variable to drive the process state towards desired trajectories. The outcome of this challenging research would yield the potential to provide a significant technological innovation for the gas industries since the catalytic cracking reactor is one of the most important conversion processes in petroleum refineries.

Keywords: PDEs, reinforcement iteration, method of characteristics, riccati equation, cracking reactor

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Authors: Moh’d A. AL-Shboul

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Recently, and due to Arab spring and terrorism around the globe, pushing and driving most governments potentially to harmonize their border measures particularly the regional and an international transit trade within and among Customs Unions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and provide an insight for monitoring and controlling the trade supply chain within and among different countries by using technological advancement (i.e. an electronic tracking system, etc.); furthermore, facilitate the local and intra-regional trade among countries through reviewing the recent trends and practical implementation of an electronic transit traffic and cargo that related to customs measures by introducing and supporting some case studies of several international and landlocked transit trade countries. The research methodology employed in this study was described as qualitative by conducting few interviews with managers, transit truck drivers, and traders and reviewing the related literature to collect qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous studies, etc. The results in this study show that Jordan and other countries around the globe that used an electronic tracking system for monitoring transit trade has led to a significant reduction in cost, effort and time in physical movement of goods internally and crossing through other countries. Therefore, there is no need to escort transit trucks by customs staff; hence, the rate of escort transit trucks is reduced by more than ninety percent, except the bulky and high duty goods. Electronic transit traffic has been increased; the average transit time journey has been reduced by more than seventy percent and has led to decrease in rates of smuggling up to fifty percent. The researcher recommends considering Jordan as regional and international office for tracking electronically and monitoring the transit trade for many considerations.

Keywords: electronic tracking system, facilitation system, regional and international corridor, supply chain security, transit trade

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Authors: Xiran Wang, Johanna Trinkl, Thomas Hoffmann, Wilfried Schwab

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Malonyltransferases (MATs) are enzymes that play a key role in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants, such as flavonoids and anthocyanins. As a kind of flavonoid-rich fruit, strawberries are an ideal model to study MATs. From Goodberry metabolome data, in the hybrid generation of 2 strawberries various, Fragaria × ananassa cv. 'Senga Sengana' and 'Candonga', we found the malonylated flavonoid concentration is significantly higher in 'Senga Sengana' compared with 'Candonga'. Therefore, we aimed to identify and characterize the malonyltransferases responsible for the different malonylated flavonoid concentrations in two different strawberry cultivars. In this study, we have found 6 MATs via genome mapping, metabolome analysis, gene cloning, and enzyme assay from strawberries, which catalyzed the malonylation of flavonoid substrates: quercetin-3-glucoside, kaempferol-3-glucoside, pelargonidin-3-glucoside, and cyanidin-3-glucoside. All four compounds reacted with FaMATs to varying degrees. These MATs have important implication into strawberries’ flavonoid biosynthesis, and also provide insights into insights into flavonoid biosynthesis, potential applications in agriculture, plant science, and pharmacy, and information on the regulation of secondary metabolism in plants.

Keywords: malonyltransferase, strawberry, flavonoid biosynthesis, enzyme assay

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Authors: Woo Young Jung, Min Ho Kwon, Bu Seog Ju

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The primary objective of this research is to improve the flexural capacity of FRP strengthened RC Beam structures with Aluminum and Titanium laminates. FRP rupture of flexural strengthened RC beams using FRP plates generally occurs at the interface between FRP plate and the beam. Therefore, in order to prevent brittle rupture and improve the ductility of the system, this research was performed by using Aluminum and Titanium materials between the two different structural systems. The research also aims to provide various strengthening/retrofitting methods for RC beam structures and to conduct a preliminary analysis of the demands on the structural systems. This was achieved by estimation using the experimental data from this research to identify a flexural capacity for the systems. Ultimately, the preliminary analysis of current study showed that the flexural capacity and system demand ductility was significantly improved by the systems inserted with Aluminum and Titanium anchor plates. Further verification of the experimental research is currently on its way to develop a new or reliable design guideline to retrofit/strengthen the concrete-FRP structural system can be evaluated.

Keywords: reinforced concrete, FRP laminate, flexural capacity, ductility

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Authors: Partha Saha, Uttam Kumar Banerjee

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Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) has always been regarded as one of the important issues globally. Reduction of maternal and child mortality rates and increase of healthcare service coverage were declared as one of the targets in Millennium Development Goals till 2015 and thereafter as an important component of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the last decade, worldwide MCH indicators have improved but could not match the expected levels. Progress of both maternal and child mortality rates have been monitored by several researchers. Each of the studies has stated that only less than 26% of low-income and middle income countries (LMICs) were on track to achieve targets as prescribed by MDG4. Average worldwide annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate were 2.2% and 1.9% as on 2011 respectively whereas rates should be minimum 4.4% and 5.5% annually to achieve targets. In spite of having proven healthcare interventions for both mothers and children, those could not be scaled up to the required volume due to fragmented health systems, especially in the developing and under-developed countries. In this research, a knowledge discovery based interactive Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed on web platform which would assist healthcare policy makers to develop evidence-based policies. To achieve desirable results in MCH, efficient resource planning is very much required. In maximum LMICs, resources are big constraint. Knowledge, generated through this system, would help healthcare managers to develop strategic resource planning for combatting with issues like huge inequity and less coverage in MCH. This system would help healthcare managers to accomplish following four tasks. Those are a) comprehending region wise conditions of variables related with MCH, b) identifying relationships within variables, c) segmenting regions based on variables status, and d) finding out segment wise key influential variables which have major impact on healthcare indicators. Whole system development process has been divided into three phases. Those were i) identifying contemporary issues related with MCH services and policy making; ii) development of the system; and iii) verification and validation of the system. More than 90 variables under three categories, such as a) educational, social, and economic parameters; b) MCH interventions; and c) health system building blocks have been included into this web-based DSS and five separate modules have been developed under the system. First module has been designed for analysing current healthcare scenario. Second module would help healthcare managers to understand correlations among variables. Third module would reveal frequently-occurring incidents along with different MCH interventions. Fourth module would segment regions based on previously mentioned three categories and in fifth module, segment-wise key influential interventions will be identified. India has been considered as case study area in this research. Data of 601 districts of India has been used for inspecting effectiveness of those developed modules. This system has been developed by importing different statistical and data mining techniques on Web platform. Policy makers would be able to generate different scenarios from the system before drawing any inference, aided by its interactive capability.

Keywords: maternal and child heathcare, decision support systems, data mining techniques, low and middle income countries

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Authors: Juan S. Vera, Miguel A. Gomez, Omar Gelvez

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Water is Earth's most valuable resource, and the lack of it is currently a critical problem in today’s society. Non-treated wastewaters contribute to this situation, especially those coming from industrial activities, as they reduce the quality of the water bodies, annihilating all kind of life and bringing disease to people in contact with them. An effective solution for this problem is distillation, which removes most contaminants. However, this approach must also be energetically efficient in order to appeal to the industry. In this endeavour, most water distillation treatments fail, with the exception of the Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) distillation system, which has a great efficiency due to energy input by a compressor and the latent heat exchange. This paper presents the process of design, construction, and evaluation of a Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) distillation system for the main Colombian poultry company Avidesa Macpollo SA. The system will be located in the principal slaughterhouse in the state of Santander, and it will work along with the Gas Energy Mixing system (GEM) to treat the wastewaters from the plant. The main goal of the MVC distiller, rarely used in this type of application, is to reduce the chlorides, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels according to the state regulations since the GEM cannot decrease them enough. The MVC distillation system works with three components, the evaporator/condenser heat exchanger where the distillation takes place, a low-pressure compressor which gives the energy to create the temperature differential between the evaporator and condenser cavities and a preheater to save the remaining energy in the distillate. The model equations used to describe how the compressor power consumption, heat exchange area and distilled water are related is based on a thermodynamic balance and heat transfer analysis, with correlations taken from the literature. Finally, the design calculations and the measurements of the installation are compared, showing accordance with the predictions in distillate production and power consumption, changing the temperature difference of the evaporator/condenser.

Keywords: mechanical vapor compression, distillation, wastewater, design, construction, evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: M. Iqbal Mahmud, Haeng Muk Cho, Seo Hyun Sang, Wang Wen Hai, Chang Heon Yi, Man Ik Hwang, Dae Hoon Kang

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Solenoid operated electromagnetic control valve (ECV) playing an important role for car’s air conditioning control system. ECV is used in external variable displacement swash plate type compressor and controls the entire air conditioning system by means of a pulse width modulation (PWM) input signal supplying from an external source (controller). Complete form of ECV contains number of internal features like valve body, core, valve guide, plunger, guide pin, plunger spring, bellows etc. While designing the ECV; dimensions of different internal items must meet the standard requirements as it is quite challenging. In this research paper, especially the dimensioning of ECV body and its three pressure ports through which the air/refrigerant passes are considered. Here internal leakage test analysis of ECV body is being carried out from its discharge port (Pd) to crankcase port (Pc) when the guide valve is placed inside it. The experiments have made both in ordinary and digital system using different assumptions and thereafter compare the results.

Keywords: electromagnetic control valve (ECV), leakage, pressure port, valve body, valve guide

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Authors: Jaouadi Ikram, Machhout Mohsen

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The development of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) platform is the subject of this paper. A quantum cryptographic protocol is designed based on the properties of quantum information and the characteristics of FPGAs. The proposed protocol performs key extraction, reconciliation, error correction, and privacy amplification tasks to generate a perfectly secret final key. We modeled the presence of the spy in our system with a strategy to reveal some of the exchanged information without being noticed. Using an FPGA card with a 100 MHz clock frequency, we have demonstrated the evolution of the error rate as well as the amounts of mutual information (between the two interlocutors and that of the spy) passing from one step to another in the key generation process.

Keywords: QKD, BB84, protocol, cryptography, FPGA, key, security, communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: L. Abubakar, B. M. Sokoto, I. U. Mohammed, M. S. Na’allah, A. Mohammad, A. N. Garba, T. S. Bubuche

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Onion (Allium cepa var. cepa L.), is the most important species of the Allium group belonging to family Alliaceae and genus Allium. It can be regarded as the single important vegetable species in the world after tomatoes. Despite the similarities, which bring the species together, the genus is a strikingly diverse one, with more than five hundred species, which are perennial and mostly bulbous plants. Out of these, only seven species are in cultivation, and five are the most important species of the cultivated Allium. However, Allium cepa (onion) and Allium sativum (Garlic) are the two major cultivated species grown all over the world of which the onion crop is the most important. Heritability defined as the proportion of the observed total variability that is genetic, and its estimates from variance components give more useful information of genotypic variation from the total phenotypic differences and environmental effects on the individuals or families. It therefore guide the breeder with respect to the ease with which selection of traits can be carried out. Heritability estimates guide the breeder with respect to ease of selection of traits while correlations suggest how selection among characters can be practiced. Correlations explain relationship between characters and suggest how selection among characters can be practiced in breeding programmes. Highly significant correlations have been reported, between yield, maturity, rings/bulb and storage loss in onions. Similarly significant positive correlation exists between total bulb yield and plant height, leaf number/plant, bulb diameter and bulb yield/plant. Moderate positive correlations have been observed between maturity date and yield, dry matter content was highly correlated with soluble solids, and higher correlations were also observed between storage loss and soluble solids. The objective of the study is to determine heritability estimates and correlations for characters among onion cultivars of North Western Nigeria. This is envisaged will assist in the breeding of superior onion cultivars within the zone. Thirteen onion cultivars were collected during an expedition covering north western Nigeria and Southern part of Niger Republic during 2013, which are areas noted for onion production. The cultivars were evaluated at two locations; Sokoto, in Sokoto State and Jega in Kebbi State all in Nigeria during the 2013/14 onion season (dry season) under irrigation. Combined analysis of the results revealed fresh bulb yield is highly significantly positively correlated with bulb height and cured bulb yield, and significant positive correlation with plant height and bulb diameter. It also recorded significant negative correlation with mean No. of leaves/plant and non significant negative correlation with bolting %. Cured bulb yield (marketable yield) had highly significant positive correlation with mean bulb weight and fresh bulb yield/ha, with significant positive correlation with bulb height. It also recorded highly significant negative correlation with No. of leaves/plant and significant negative correlation with bolting % and non significant positive correlation with plant height and non significant negative correlation with bulb diameter. High broad sense heritability estimates were recorded for plant height, fresh bulb yield, number of leaves/plant, bolting % and cured bulb yield. Medium to low broad sense heritabilities were also observed for mean bulb weight, plant height and bulb diameter.

Keywords: correlation, heritability, onions, North Western Nigeria

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Authors: Sumaira Zafar, Arjumand Zaidi, Muhammad Arslan Hafeez

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Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) is the largest contiguous irrigation system of the world comprising Indus River and its tributaries, canals, distributaries, and watercourses. A big challenge faced by IBIS is transmission losses through seepage and leaks that account to 41 percent of the total water derived from the river and about 40 percent of that is through watercourses. Irrigation system rehabilitation programs in Pakistan are focused on improvement of canal system at the watercourse level (tertiary channels). Under these irrigation system management programs more than 22,800 watercourses have been improved or lined out of 43,000 (12,900 Kilometers) watercourses. The evaluation of the improvement work is required at this stage to testify the success of the programs. In this paper, emerging technologies of GIS and satellite remote sensing are used for impact assessment of watercourse rehabilitation work in Sindh. To evaluate the efficiency of the improved watercourses, few parameters are selected like soil moisture along watercourses, availability of water at tail end and changes in cultivable command areas. Improved watercourses details and maps are acquired from National Program for Improvement of Watercourses (NPIW) and Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO). High resolution satellite images of Google Earth for the year of 2004 to 2013 are used for digitizing command areas. Temporal maps of cultivable command areas show a noticeable increase in the cultivable land served by improved watercourses. Field visits are conducted to validate the results. Interviews with farmers and landowners also reveal their overall satisfaction in terms of availability of water at the tail end and increased crop production.

Keywords: geospatial, impact assessment, watercourses, GIS, remote sensing, seepage, canal lining

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Faraz Tahir, M. Usman Akram, Albab Ahmad Khan, Mujahid Abbass, Ahmad Tariq, Nuzhat Qaiser

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the Degree of anemia by taking the picture of the palpebral conjunctiva using Smartphone Camera. We have first localized the region of interest from the image and then extracted certain features from that Region of interest and trained SVM classifier on those features and then, as a result, our system classifies the image in real-time on their level of hemoglobin. The proposed system has given an accuracy of 70%. We have trained our classifier on a locally gathered dataset of 30 patients.

Keywords: anemia, palpebral conjunctiva, SVM, smartphone

Procedia PDF Downloads 510