Search results for: open queueing network

Authors: Madhav Khadilkar

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Construction of a large standby reservoir was required to provide secure water supply. The new reservoir was required to be constructed at the same location of an abandoned old open pond due to space constraints. Some investigations were carried out earlier to improvise and re-commission the existing pond. But due to a lack of quantified risk of settlement from voids in the underlying limestone, the shallow foundations were not found feasible. Since the reservoir was resting on hard strata for about three-quarter of plan area and one quarter was resting on soil underlying with limestone and considerably low subgrade modulus. Further investigations were carried out to ascertain the locations and extent of voids within the limestone. It was concluded that the risk due to lime dissolution was acceptably low, and the site was found geotechnically feasible. The hazard posed by limestone dissolution was addressed through the integrated structural and geotechnical analysis and design approach. Finite Element Analysis was carried out to quantify the stresses and differential settlement due to various probable loads and soil-structure interaction. Walls behaving as cantilever under operational loads were found undergoing in-plane bending and tensile forces due to soil-structure interaction. Sensitivity analysis for varying soil subgrade modulus was carried out to check the variation in the response of the structure and magnitude of stresses developed. The base slab was additionally checked for the loss of soil contact due to lime pocket formations at random locations. The expansion and contraction joints were planned to receive minimal additional forces due to differential settlement. The reservoir was designed to sustain the actions corresponding to allowable deformation limits per code, and geotechnical measures were proposed to achieve the soil parameters set in structural analysis.

Keywords: differential settlement, limestone dissolution, reservoir, soil structure interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

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The Internet of Things (IoT) was designed for widespread convenience. With the smart tag and the sensing network, a large quantity of dynamic information is immediately presented in the IoT. Through the internal communication and interaction, meaningful objects provide real-time services for users. Therefore, the service with appropriate decision-making has become an essential issue. Based on the science of human behavior, this study employed the environment model to record the time sequences and locations of different behaviors and adopted the probability module of the hierarchical Hidden Markov Model for the inference. The statistical analysis was conducted to achieve the following objectives: First, define user behaviors and predict the user behavior routes with the environment model to analyze user purposes. Second, construct the hierarchical Hidden Markov Model according to the logic framework, and establish the sequential intensity among behaviors to get acquainted with the use and activity fabric of the intelligent environment. Third, establish the intensity of the relation between the probability of objects’ being used and the objects. The indicator can describe the possible limitations of the mechanism. As the process is recorded in the information of the system created in this study, these data can be reused to adjust the procedure of intelligent design services.

Keywords: behavior, big data, hierarchical hidden Markov model, intelligent object

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Authors: F. A. Olutoge, O.R. Olulope, M. O. Odelola

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This study investigates the strength potentials of groundnut husk ash as partial cement replacement in mortar and also develops a predictive model using Artificial Neural Network. Groundnut husks sourced from Ogbomoso, Nigeria, was sun dried, calcined to ash in a furnace at a controlled temperature of 600⁰ C for a period of 6 hours, and sieved through the 75 microns. The ash was subjected to chemical analysis and setting time test. Fine aggregate (sand) for the mortar was sourced from Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. The cement: GHA constituents were blended in ratios 100:0, 95:5, 90:10, 85:15 and 80:20 %. The sum of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃ content in GHA is 26.98%. The compressive strength for mortars PC, GHA5, GHA10, GHA15, and GHA20 ranged from 6.3-10.2 N/mm² at 7days, 7.5-12.3 N/mm² at 14 days, 9.31-13.7 N/mm² at 28 days, 10.4-16.7 N/mm² at 56days and 13.35- 22.3 N/mm² at 90 days respectively, PC, GHA5 and GHA10 had competitive values up to 28 days, but GHA10 gave the highest values at 56 and 90 days while GHA20 had the lowest values at all ages due to dilution effect. Flexural strengths values at 28 days ranged from 1.08 to 1.87 N/mm² and increased to a range of 1.53-4.10 N/mm² at 90 days. The ANN model gave good prediction for compressive strength of the mortars. This study has shown that groundnut husk ash as partial cement replacement improves the strength properties of mortar.

Keywords: compressive strength, groundnut husk ash, mortar, pozzolanic index

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Authors: Shahadat Uddin, Md Ekramul Hossain, Arif Khan

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The collaboration among physicians during episodes of care for a hospitalised patient has a significant contribution towards effective health outcome. This research aims at improving this health outcome by analysing the attributes of patient-sharing physician collaboration network (PCN) on hospital data. To accomplish this goal, we present a research framework that explores the impact of several types of attributes (such as clique and clan) of PCN on hospitalisation cost and hospital length of stay. We use electronic health insurance claim dataset to construct and explore PCNs. Each PCN is categorised as ‘low’ and ‘high’ in terms of hospitalisation cost and length of stay. The results from the proposed model show that the clique and clan of PCNs affect the hospitalisation cost and length of stay. The clique and clan of PCNs show the difference between ‘low’ and ‘high’ PCNs in terms of hospitalisation cost and length of stay. The findings and insights from this research can potentially help the healthcare stakeholders to better formulate the policy in order to improve quality of care while reducing cost.

Keywords: clique, clan, electronic health records, physician collaboration

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Dalya M. Hassan

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Marketplaces and commercial streets represent some of the most used and lively urban public spaces. Not only do they provide an outlet for commercial exchange, but they also facilitate social and recreational encounters. Such encounters can be influenced by both formal as well as informal vending activities. This paper explores and documents forms of informal vending practices and how they relate to social patterns that occur along the sidewalks of Commercial Streets in Cairo. A qualitative single case study approach of ‘Midan El Gami’ marketplace in Heliopolis, Cairo is adopted. The methodology applied includes direct and walk-by observations for two main commercial streets in the marketplace. Four zoomed-in activity maps are also done for three sidewalk segments that displayed varying vending and social features. Main findings include a documentation and classification of types of informal vending practices as well as a documentation of vendors’ distribution patterns in the urban space. Informal vending activities mainly included informal street vendors and shop spillovers, either as product or seating spillovers. Results indicated that staying and lingering activities were more prevalent in sidewalks that had certain physical features, such as diversity of shops, shaded areas, open frontages, and product or seating spillovers. Moreover, differences in social activity patterns were noted between sidewalks with street vendors and sidewalks with spillovers. While the first displayed more buying, selling, and people watching activities, the latter displayed more social relations and bonds amongst traders’ communities and café patrons. Ultimately, this paper provides a documentation, which suggests that informal vending can have a positive influence on creating a lively commercial street and on resulting patterns of use on the sidewalk space. The results can provide a basis for further investigations and analysis concerning this topic. This could aid in better accommodating informal vending activities within the design of future commercial streets.

Keywords: commercial streets, informal vending practices, sidewalks, social encounters

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Authors: Ioan Corneliu Salisteanu, Valentin Dogaru Ulieru, Mihaita Nicolae Ardeleanu, Alin Pohoata, Bogdan Salisteanu, Stefan Broscareanu

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Creating a personalized statistic for an individual within the population using IT systems, based on the searches and intercepted spheres of interest they manifest, is just one 'atom' of the artificial intelligence analysis network. However, having the ability to generate statistics based on individual data intercepted from large demographic areas leads to reasoning like that issued by a human mind with global strategic ambitions. The DiaMOTO device is a technical sensory system that allows the interception of car events caused by a driver, positioning them in time and space. The device's connection to the vehicle allows the creation of a source of data whose analysis can create psychological, behavioural profiles of the drivers involved. The SiaMOTO system collects data from many vehicles equipped with DiaMOTO, driven by many different drivers with a unique fingerprint in their approach to driving. In this paper, we aimed to explain the software infrastructure of the SiaMOTO system, a system designed to monitor and improve driver driving behaviour, as well as the criteria and algorithms underlying the intelligent analysis process.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, data processing, driver behaviour, driver monitoring, SiaMOTO

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Authors: Christina Adly, Meena Abdelmeseeh, Tamer Basha

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This paper proposes a system for hand movement recognition using multichannel surface EMG(sEMG) signals obtained from 40 subjects using 40 different exercises, which are available on the Ninapro(Non-Invasive Adaptive Prosthetics) database. First, we applied processing methods to the raw sEMG signals to convert them to their amplitudes. Second, we used deep learning methods to solve our problem by passing the preprocessed signals to Fully connected neural networks(FCNN) and recurrent neural networks(RNN) with Long Short Term Memory(LSTM). Using intrasubject evaluation, The accuracy using the FCNN is 72%, with a processing time for training around 76 minutes, and for RNN's accuracy is 79.9%, with 8 minutes and 22 seconds processing time. Third, we applied some postprocessing methods to improve the accuracy, like majority voting(MV) and Movement Error Rate(MER). The accuracy after applying MV is 75% and 86% for FCNN and RNN, respectively. The MER value has an inverse relationship with the prediction delay while varying the window length for measuring the MV. The different part uses the RNN with the intersubject evaluation. The experimental results showed that to get a good accuracy for testing with reasonable processing time, we should use around 20 subjects.

Keywords: hand movement recognition, recurrent neural network, movement error rate, intrasubject evaluation, intersubject evaluation

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Authors: Sanat K. Dash, Rama S. Verma, Sarit K. Das

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A logarithmic microfluidic shear device was designed and fabricated for cellular mechanotransduction studies. The device contains four cell culture chambers in which flow was modulated to achieve a logarithmic increment. Resistance values were optimized to make the device compact. The network of resistances was developed according to a unique combination of series and parallel resistances as found via optimization. Simulation results done in Ansys 16.1 matched the analytical calculations and showed the shear stress distribution at different inlet flow rates. Fabrication of the device was carried out using conventional photolithography and PDMS soft lithography. Flow profile was validated taking DI water as working fluid and measuring the volume collected at all four outlets. Volumes collected at the outlets were in accordance with the simulation results at inlet flow rates ranging from 1 ml/min to 0.1 ml/min. The device can exert fluid shear stresses ranging four orders of magnitude on the culture chamber walls which will cover shear stress values from interstitial flow to blood flow. This will allow studying cell behavior in the long physiological range of shear stress in a single run reducing number of experiments.

Keywords: microfluidics, mechanotransduction, fluid shear stress, physiological shear

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Authors: Maria M. Giannakou, Athanasios K. Ziliaskopoulos

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Transmission pipelines carrying natural gas are often routed through populated cities, industrial and environmentally sensitive areas. While the need for these networks is unquestionable, there are serious concerns about the risk these lifeline networks pose to the people, to their habitat and to the critical infrastructures, especially in view of natural disasters such as earthquakes. This work presents an Integrated Pipeline Risk Management methodology (IPRM) for assessing the hazard associated with a natural gas pipeline failure due to natural or manmade disasters. IPRM aims to optimize the allocation of the available resources to countermeasures in order to minimize the impacts of pipeline failure to humans, the environment, the infrastructure and the economic activity. A proposed knapsack mathematical programming formulation is introduced that optimally selects the proper mitigation policies based on the estimated cost – benefit ratios. The proposed model is demonstrated with a small numerical example. The vulnerability analysis of these pipelines and the quantification of consequences from such failures can be useful for natural gas industries on deciding which mitigation measures to implement on the existing pipeline networks with the minimum cost in an acceptable level of hazard.

Keywords: cost benefit analysis, knapsack problem, natural gas distribution network, risk management, risk mitigation

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Authors: Dovilė Bačėninaitė, Karina Džermeikaitė, Justinas Kirvela, Ramūnas Antanaitis

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Bacteria are often present in the mouth of cattle. Some of them can cause abscesses. Starting with severe swelling of the mouth, muscle spasm, or locked jaw, it can lead to inability to open its mouth, move the neck, cause pain while eating. While the calf is unable to eat properly, it becomes more susceptible to infectious diseases, lower weight gain can be observed. Abscesses can be considered as a continuum of oral disease, whereby early stages of the lumpy jaw could proceed from gingivitis to periodontal disease. In the event of tissue damage, bacteria can enter the bloodstream, even cause sepsis. The most common lesions occur when animals eat sharp grass, coarse fodder, sharp, piercing foreign bodies (this is especially common for calves when they are trying to eat inedible objects). A crossbred Holstein calf presented with a history of proliferative outgrowth in the mandibular region. On clinical examination, needle aspiration, mandibular swelling revealed sticky, white curd-like fluid containing. Pus bacteriology revealed gram-negative cocci. They were sensitive to amoxicillin, cephalexin, enrofloxacin, ceftiofur. Blood morphology was in physiological ranges. The calf was treated surgically. The growth was excised, the puss drained and the wound was flushed with potassium permanganate solution (0,01%). A week after clinical surgery examination was performed. The swelling was decreased. Superficial bacterial infections are often associated with poor hygiene, which should be improved before treatment is commenced. Clipping away dirty hair and gently washing affected areas of skin daily with solutions such as povidone-iodine, potassium permanganate is effective. Appropriate antibiotic therapy, based on sensitivity testing, may be used where there is evidence of systemic illness.

Keywords: calf, abscess, lumpy jaw, pus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Actinobacillus, infection

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Authors: Giovanni Menichini, Salvatore Giacomo Morano, Gloria Terenzi, Luca Salvatori, Maurizio Orlando

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The “Guidelines for Risk Classification, Safety Assessment, and Structural Health Monitoring of Existing Bridges” were recently approved by the Italian Government to define technical standards for managing the national network of existing bridges. These guidelines provide a framework for risk mitigation and safety assessment of bridges, which are essential elements of the built environment and form the basis for the operation of transport systems. Within the guideline framework, a workflow based on three main points was proposed: (1) risk-based, i.e., based on typical parameters of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure; (2) multi-level, i.e., including six assessment levels of increasing complexity; and (3) multirisk, i.e., assessing structural/foundational, seismic, hydrological, and landslide risks. The paper focuses on applying the Italian Guidelines to specific case studies, aiming to identify the parameters that predominantly influence the determination of the “class of attention”. The significance of each parameter is determined via sensitivity analysis. Additionally, recommendations for enhancing the process of assigning the class of attention are proposed.

Keywords: bridge safety assessment, Italian guidelines implementation, risk classification, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Mariam G. Eshak, Ahmed Abbas, M. I. El-Sabry, M. M. Mashaly

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This investigation was conducted to determine the physiological response and evaluate the expression of inflammatory and cell death genes and DNA damage induced by endotoxic shock in laying hens. Endotoxic shock was induced by a single intravenous injection of 107 Escherichia coli (E. coli,) colony/hen. In the present study, 240 forty-week-old laying hens (H&N) were randomly assigned into 2 groups with 3 replicates of 40 birds each. Hens were reared in battery cages with wire floors in an open-sided housing system under natural conditions. Housing and general management practices were similar for all groups. At 42-wk of age, 45 hens from the first group (15 replicate) were infected with E. coli, while the same number of hens from the second group was injected with saline and served as a control. Heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) expression, plasma corticosterone concentration, body temperature, and the gene expression of bax, caspase-3 activity, P38, Interlukin-1β (Il-1β), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) genes and DNA damage in the brain and liver were measured. Hens treated with E. coli showed significant (P≤0.05) increase of body temperature by 1.2 ᴼC and plasma corticosterone by 3 folds compared to the controls. Further, hens injected with E.Coli showed markedly over-expression of HSP-70 and increase DNA damage in brain and liver. These results were synchronized with activating cell death program since our data showed significant (P≤0.05) high expression of bax and caspase-3 activity genes in the brain and liver. These results were related to remarkable over-inflammation gene expression of P38, IL-1β, and TNF-α in brain and liver. In conclusion, our results indicate that endotoxic shock induces inflammatory physiological response and triggers cell death program by promoting P38, IL-1β, and TNF-α gene expression in the brain and liver.

Keywords: chicken, DNA damage, Escherichia coli, gene expression, inflammation

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Authors: Wipada Prasansaph

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The aim of this research is twofold: to develop a local literature (simplified English translation version) reading booklet for Thai primary school children (the fourth graders) and to encourage the love of reading in English by reading local literature. An excerpt from Thai literature namely Phra-apaimani, the reading requirement for Primary 4 was selected to be translated into English in simplified language with cartoon pictures to illustrate the key happenings of the story. After the first draft of the booklet development, the samples of the booklets were distributed to 3 educator experts to call for validity and comments on 1) the appropriateness of the English language, 2) the organization of the booklet, 3) the comprehension of the story, and 4) the relevance to the core curriculum of Basic Education of Thailand (B.E.2551). The IOC (Index of Item – Objective Congruence) was 0.9 indicated that the material is applicable (with some comments and suggestions). After the first amendment, the booklets were distributed to 30 fourth graders (in 3 schools – 10 in each school), 10 English teachers of Primary 4, and 10 educational supervisors for English subjects (in primary level) to call for comments on 1) the comprehension of the story 2) the organization of the booklet, and 3) the encouragement for the love of reading in English. The English reading booklet on Phra-apaimani for Thai primary children, the IOC questionnaire (with the open-ended questions) for the educator experts, and the rating scales for the students, the teachers, and the educational supervisors were used as the instruments of the research. The findings revealed that most students rated ‘positive’ level for the comprehension of the story, while the teachers and the educational supervisors rated ‘highly positive’. The 3 groups rated ‘highly positive’ for both the organization of the booklet and for the encouragement for the love of reading in English. It is recommended that there should be more production of English reading texts for children, especially the texts that children already have some background knowledge. Moreover, illustration is the most crucial part for the children’s reading texts.

Keywords: English language, reading skill, primary children, Thai literature

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Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan

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The present study was aimed in assessing the heavy metal pollution of the soils around Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex and related environmental risks. This mine complex is located in the south-east part of Armenia, and the present study was conducted in 2013. The soils of the five riskiest sites of this region were studied: surroundings of the open mine, the sites adjacent to processing plant of Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, surroundings of Darazam active tailing dump, the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 2”, and the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 3”. The mountain cambisol was the main soil type in the study sites. The level of soil contamination by heavy metals was assessed by Contamination factors (Cf), Degree of contamination (Cd), Geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and Enrichment factor (EF). The distribution pattern of trace metals in the soil profile according to Cf, Cd, I-geo and EF values shows that the soil is much polluted. Almost in all studied sites, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Cd were the main polluting heavy metals, and this was conditioned by Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex activity. It is necessary to state that the pollution problem becomes pressing as some parts of these highly polluted region are inhabited by population, and agriculture is highly developed there; therefore, heavy metals can be transferred into human bodies through food chains and have direct influence on public health. Since the induced pollution can pose serious threats to public health, further investigations on soil and vegetation pollution are recommended. Finally, Cf calculating based on distance from the pollution source and the wind direction can provide more reasonable results.

Keywords: Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, heavy metals, soil contamination, enrichment factor (EF), Armenia

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Muhammad Minhaj Khan, Jaemin Lee, Suhong Lee, Jinyoung Chung, Johoo Whang

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The Republic of Korea has been facing strong storage crisis from nuclear waste generation as At Reactor (AR) temporary storage sites are about to reach saturation. Since the country is densely populated with a rate of 491.78 persons per square kilometer, Construction of High-level waste repository will not be a feasible option. In order to tackle the storage waste generation problem which is increasing at a rate of 350 tHM/Yr. and 380 tHM/Yr. in case of 20 PWRs and 4 PHWRs respectively, the study strongly focuses on the advancement of current nuclear power plants to GEN-IV sustainable and ecological nuclear systems by burning TRUs (Pu, MAs). First, Calculations has made to estimate the generation of SNF including Pu and MA from PWR and PHWR NPPS by using the IAEA code Nuclear Fuel Cycle Simulation System (NFCSS) for the period of 2016, 2030 (including the saturation period of each site from 2024~2028), 2089 and 2109 as the number of NPPS will increase due to high import cost of non-nuclear energy sources. 2ndly, in order to produce environmentally sustainable nuclear energy systems, 4 scenarios to burnout the Plutonium and MAs are analyzed with the concentration on burning of MA only, MA and Pu together by utilizing SFR, LFR and KALIMER-600 burner reactor after recycling the spent oxide fuel from PWR through pyro processing technology developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) which shows promising and sustainable future benefits by minimizing the HLW generation with regard to waste amount, decay heat, and activity. Finally, With the concentration on front and back end fuel cycles for open and closed fuel cycles of PWR and Pyro-SFR respectively, an overall assessment has been made which evaluates the quantitative as well as economical combativeness of SFR metallic fuel against PWR once through nuclear fuel cycle.

Keywords: GEN IV nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear waste, waste sustainability, transmutation

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Authors: Kyung-Jin You, Kiwon Rhee, Marc H. Schieber, Nitish V. Thakor, Hyun-Chool Shin

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It remains unknown whether M1 neurons encode multi-finger movements independently or as a certain neural network of single finger movements although multi-finger movements are physically a combination of single finger movements. We present an evidence of correlation between single and multi-finger movements and also attempt a challenging task of semi-blind decoding of neural data with minimum training of the neural decoder. Data were collected from 115 task-related neurons in M1 of a trained rhesus monkey performing flexion and extension of each finger and the wrist (12 single and 6 two-finger-movements). By exploiting correlation of temporal firing pattern between movements, we found that correlation coefficient for physically related movements pairs is greater than others; neurons tuned to single finger movements increased their firing rate when multi-finger commands were instructed. According to this knowledge, neural semi-blind decoding is done by choosing the greatest and the second greatest likelihood for canonical candidates. We achieved a decoding accuracy about 60% for multiple finger movement without corresponding training data set. this results suggest that only with the neural activities on single finger movements can be exploited to control dexterous multi-fingered neuroprosthetics.

Keywords: finger movement, neural activity, blind decoding, M1

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Authors: Niousha Bagheri Khulenjani, Mohammad Saniee Abadeh

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Learning from very big datasets is a significant problem for most present data mining and machine learning algorithms. MicroRNA (miRNA) is one of the important big genomic and non-coding datasets presenting the genome sequences. In this paper, a hybrid method for the classification of the miRNA data is proposed. Due to the variety of cancers and high number of genes, analyzing the miRNA dataset has been a challenging problem for researchers. The number of features corresponding to the number of samples is high and the data suffer from being imbalanced. The feature selection method has been used to select features having more ability to distinguish classes and eliminating obscures features. Afterward, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classifier for classification of cancer types is utilized, which employs a Genetic Algorithm to highlight optimized hyper-parameters of CNN. In order to make the process of classification by CNN faster, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is recommended for calculating the mathematic equation in a parallel way. The proposed method is tested on a real-world dataset with 8,129 patients, 29 different types of tumors, and 1,046 miRNA biomarkers, taken from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Keywords: cancer classification, feature selection, deep learning, genetic algorithm

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Authors: M. A. Mabasa, O. Ramokolo, M. Z. Mnikathi, D. Mathabatha, T. Manyapelo

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The study examines the importance of translating South African folklore from Oral into Written Literature in a Multilingual Education. Therefore, the study postulates that translation can be regarded as a valuable tool when oral and written literature is transmitted from one generation to another. The study entails that translation does not take place in a haphazard fashion; for that reason, skills such as translation principles are required to translate folklore significantly and effectively. The purpose of the study is to indicate the significance of using translation relating to folklore in teaching and learning. The study also observed that Modernism in literature should be shared amongst varieties of cultures because folklore is interactive in narrating stories, folktales and myths to sharpen the reader’s knowledge and intellect because they are informative and educative in nature. As a technological tool, the study points out that translation is of paramount importance in the sense that the meanings of different data can be made available in all South African official languages using oral and written forms of folklore. The study opines that tradition and customary beliefs and practices in the institution of higher learning. The study envisages the way in which literature of folklore can be juxtaposed to ensure that translated folklore is of quality assured standards. The study alludes that well-translated folklore can serve as oral and written literature, which may contribute to the child’s learning and acquisition of knowledge and insights during cognitive development toward maturity. Methodologically, the study selects a qualitative research approach and selects content analysis as an instrument for data gathering, which will be analyzed qualitatively in consideration of the significance of translating folklore as written and spoken literature in a documented way. The study reveals that the translation of folktales promotes functional multilingualism in high-function formal contexts like a university. The study emphasizes that translated and preserved literary folklore may serve as a language repository from one generation to another because of the archival and storage of information in the form of a term bank.

Keywords: translation, editing, teaching, learning, folklores

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Authors: Zahra Abdolkarimi, Naser Zourikalatehsamad,

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Up to 40 years ago, after recognition of epilepsy, it was generally believed that these attacks occurred randomly and suddenly. However, thanks to the advance of mathematics and engineering, such attacks can be predicted within a few minutes or hours. In this way, various algorithms for long-term prediction of the time and frequency of the first attack are presented. In this paper, by considering the nonlinear nature of brain signals and dynamic recorded brain signals, ANFIS model is presented to predict the brain signals, since according to physiologic structure of the onset of attacks, more complex neural structures can better model the signal during attacks. Contribution of this work is the co-evolution algorithm for optimization of ANFIS network parameters. Our objective is to predict brain signals based on time series obtained from brain signals of the people suffering from epilepsy using ANFIS. Results reveal that compared to other methods, this method has less sensitivity to uncertainties such as presence of noise and interruption in recorded signals of the brain as well as more accuracy. Long-term prediction capacity of the model illustrates the usage of planted systems for warning medication and preventing brain signals.

Keywords: co-evolution algorithms, brain signals, time series, neural networks, ANFIS model, physiologic structure, time prediction, epilepsy suffering, illustrates model

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Authors: Sara Piccirillo

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The integrated urban regeneration represents a great opportunity to deliver correct management of the territory if implemented through the reuse, enhancement, and transformation of abandoned industrial areas, according to sustainability strategies. In environmental terms, recycling abandoned sites by demolishing buildings and regenerating the urban areas means promoting adaptation to climate change and a new sensitivity towards city living. The strategic vision of 'metabolism' can be implemented through diverse actions made on urban settlements, and planning certainly plays a primary role. Planning an urban transformation in a sustainable way is more than auspicable. It is necessary to introduce innovative urban soil management actions to mitigate the environmental costs associated with current land use and to promote projects for the recovery/renaturalization of urban or non-agricultural soils. However, by freeing up these through systematic demolition of the disused heritage, new questions open up in terms of environmental costs deriving from the inevitable impacts caused by the disposal of waste. The mitigation of these impacts involves serious reflection on the recycling supply chains aimed at the production and reuse of secondary raw materials in the construction industry. The recent developments in R&D of recycling materials are gradually becoming more and more pivotal in consideration of environmental issues such as increasing difficulties in exploiting natural quarries or strict regulations for the management and disposal of waste sites. Therefore, this contribution, set as a critical essay, presents the reconstruction outputs of the regulatory background on the material recycling chain up to the 'end of waste' stage, both at a national and regional scale. This extended approach to this urban design practice goes beyond the cultural dimension that has relegated urban regeneration to pure design only. It redefines its processes through an interdisciplinary system that affects human, environmental and financial resources.

Keywords: waste management, C&D waste, recycling, urban trasformation

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Authors: Asawari Alok Pawaskar

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This study was aimed at investigating quality assurance (QA) done with IBA matrix, the discrepan­cies observed for helical tomotherapy plans. A selection of tomotherapy plans that initially failed the with Matrix process was chosen for this investigation. These plans failed the fluence analysis as assessed using gamma criteria (3%, 3 mm). Each of these plans was modified (keeping the planning constraints the same), beamlets rebatched and reoptimized. By increasing and decreasing the modula­tion factor, the fluence in a circumferential plane as measured with a diode array was assessed. A subset of these plans was investigated using varied pitch values. Factors for each plan that were examined were point doses, fluences, leaf opening times, planned leaf sinograms, and uniformity indices. In order to ensure that the treatment constraints remained the same, the dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of all the modulated plans were compared to the original plan. It was observed that a large increase in the modulation factor did not significantly improve DVH unifor­mity, but reduced the gamma analysis pass rate. This also increased the treatment delivery time by slowing down the gantry rotation speed which then increases the maximum to mean non-zero leaf open time ratio. Increasing and decreasing the pitch value did not substantially change treatment time, but the delivery accuracy was adversely affected. This may be due to many other factors, such as the complexity of the treatment plan and site. Patient sites included in this study were head and neck, breast, abdomen. The impact of leaf tim­ing inaccuracies on plans was greater with higher modulation factors. Point-dose measurements were seen to be less susceptible to changes in pitch and modulation factors. The initial modulation factor used by the optimizer, such that the TPS generated ‘actual’ modulation factor within the range of 1.4 to 2.5, resulted in an improved deliverable plan.

Keywords: dose volume histogram, modulation factor, IBA matrix, tomotherapy

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Authors: Tingkai Zhao, Jingtian Hu, Xiarong Peng, Wenbo Yang, Tiehu Li

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Homogeneous amorphous carbon nanotube (ACNT) networks have been synthesized using floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition method on a three-dimensional (3D) graphene aerogel (GA)/BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanorod (BNR) composite which prepared by a self-propagating combustion process. The as-synthesized ACNT/GA/BNR composite which has 3D network structures could be directly used as a good absorber in the electromagnetic wave absorbent materials. The experimental results indicated that the maximum absorbing peak of ACNT/GA/BNR composite with a thickness of 2 mm was -18.35 dB at 10.64 GHz in the frequency range of 2-18 GHz. The bandwidth of the reflectivity below -10 dB is 3.32 GHz. The 3D graphene aerogel structures which composed of dense interlined tubes and amorphous structure of ACNTs bearing quantities of dihedral angles could consume the incident waves through multiple reflection and scattering inside the 3D web structures. The interlinked ACNTs have both the virtues of amorphous CNTs (multiple reflections inside the wall) and crystalline CNTs (high conductivity), consuming the electromagnetic wave as resistance heat. ACNT/GA/BNR composite has a good electromagnetic wave absorbing performance.

Keywords: amorphous carbon nanotubes, graphene aerogel, barium ferrite nanorod, electromagnetic wave absorption

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Authors: Nur Aziza Luxfiati

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Clustering is partitioning data sets into sub-sets or groups in such a way that elements certain properties have shared property settings with a high level of similarity within one group and a low level of similarity between groups. . The K-Means algorithm is one of thealgorithmsclustering as a grouping tool that is most widely used in scientific and industrial applications because the basic idea of the kalgorithm is-means very simple. In this research, applying the technique of clustering using the k-means algorithm as a method of solving the problem of national development imbalances between regions in Central Java Province based on macroeconomic indicators. The data sample used is secondary data obtained from the Central Java Provincial Statistics Agency regarding macroeconomic indicator data which is part of the publication of the 2019 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) data. score and determine the number of clusters (k) using the elbow method. After the clustering process is carried out, the validation is tested using themethodsBetween-Class Variation (BCV) and Within-Class Variation (WCV). The results showed that detection outlier using z-score normalization showed no outliers. In addition, the results of the clustering test obtained a ratio value that was not high, namely 0.011%. There are two district/city clusters in Central Java Province which have economic similarities based on the variables used, namely the first cluster with a high economic level consisting of 13 districts/cities and theclustersecondwith a low economic level consisting of 22 districts/cities. And in the cluster second, namely, between low economies, the authors grouped districts/cities based on similarities to macroeconomic indicators such as 20 districts of Gross Regional Domestic Product, with a Poverty Depth Index of 19 districts, with 5 districts in Human Development, and as many as Open Unemployment Rate. 10 districts.

Keywords: clustering, K-Means algorithm, macroeconomic indicators, inequality, national development

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Authors: Mahmoud Fouad, Mervat Badr, Marwa Ibrahim

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Micro-grid system is presently considered a reliable solution for the expected deficiency in the power required from future power systems. Renewable power sources such as wind, solar and hydro offer high potential of benign power for future micro-grid systems. Micro-Grid (MG) is basically a low voltage (LV) or medium voltage (MV) distribution network which consists of a number of called distributed generators (DG’s); micro-sources such as photovoltaic array, fuel cell, wind turbine etc. energy storage systems and loads; operating as a single controllable system, that could be operated in both grid-connected and islanded mode. The capacity of the DG’s is sufficient to support all; or most, of the load connected to the micro-grid. This paper presents a micro-grid system based on wind and solar power sources and addresses issues related to operation, control, and stability of the system. Using Matlab/Simulink, the system is modeled and simulated to identify the relevant technical issues involved in the operation of a micro-grid system based on renewable power generation units.

Keywords: micro-grid system, photovoltaic, wind turbine, energy storage, distributed generation, modeling

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Authors: Pratiwi Retnaningdyah, Sofie Dewayani

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Foreign domestic workers are arguably one of the most exploited and subordinated groups of women in the labor division under global capitalism. However, foreign domestic workers (FDWs) actively engage in activities to negotiate the prevailing structures of power in the transnational labor market. This paper seeks to understand the significance of Indonesian Domestic Workers (IDWs) cultural representations in relation to the themes of literacy and space. In particular, this paper addresses the issue of how IDWs in Hong Kong make use of the practice of suitcase libraries to make meaning of space within material limits. The term ‘suitcase libraries’ is used to refer to a literacy practice of book borrowing at outdoor public spaces in Hong Kong during IDWs’ days off. The books are displayed in open suitcases and mats, with IDWs both as administrators and consumers engaged in the practice. This paper argues that suitcase libraries can be considered representing Thirdspace in the form of a vernacular, grassroots literacy practice that creates a productive space of resistance and community empowerment. Employing participant observation and a textual analysis of IDWs’ literacy narratives, the study traced IDWs’ literacy trajectories to the period of IDWs’ permanent return to Indonesia. Through extended engagement in community literacy practices in their hometowns, former IDWs develop their literacy capital and break the stereotypes of uneducated and passive maids and change them into literate figures. In the context of literacy movement that has gained momentum in Indonesia recently, the practice of IDWs’ suitcase libraries is also useful as a reference point to further investigate how community literacy sponsors in Indonesia also create Thirdspace and develop literacy capital through community libraries (TBM, Taman Baca Masyarakat).

Keywords: identity, Indonesian domestic workers, literacy narratives, Thirdspace

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Authors: Kgopa Bontle, Tholen Sodi

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Climate change poses a major threat to the well-being of both people and the environment, with subsistence farmers most affected as they rely on local supply systems that are sensitive to climate variation. This study documented psychological resilience factors associated with climate change adaptations by subsistence farmers in Maruleng Municipality, Limpopo Province. A qualitative study was conducted to examine the notions of climate change by subsistence farmers, the psychological resilience factors, the strategies to cope with climate change, adaptation methods, and the development of subsistence farmers’ psychological resilience factors model. Data were collected through direct interactions with participants using a grounded theory research design. An open-ended interview was used to collect data with a sample of 15 participants selected through theoretical sampling in Maruleng Municipality. The participants were both Sepedi and Xitsonga speaking from 2 villages, mostly unemployed, pensioners and dependent on social grants. The study included both males and females who were predominately the elderly. The research findings indicate that farmers have limited knowledge of what climate change is and what causes it. Furthermore, the research reflects that although their responses were non-scientific but sensible enough to know what they were dealing with. They mentioned extreme weather, which includes hot days and less rainfall and changes in seasons, as some of the impacts brought by climate change. The results also indicated that participants have learned to adapt through several adaptation strategies, including mulching, changes in irrigation time slots and being innovative. The resilience factors that emerged from the study were a passion for farming, hope, enthusiasm, courage, acceptance/tolerance, livelihood and belief systems. Looking at the socio-economic factors of the current study setting argumentation leads to the conclusion that it is important that government should assist the subsistence farmers as it was observed from the participants that they felt neglected by the government and policymakers as they are small scale farmers and are not included like commercial farmers.

Keywords: climate change, psychological resilience factors, human adaptation, subsistence farmers

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Authors: Aniket Ganvir, Ritarani Sahu, Suchismita Chinara

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The rapid digitization of various aspects of life is leading to the creation of smart IoT ecosystems, where interconnected devices generate significant amounts of valuable data. However, these IoT devices face constraints such as limited computational resources and bandwidth. Cloud computing emerges as a solution by offering ample resources for offloading tasks efficiently despite introducing latency issues, especially for time-sensitive applications like fog computing. Fog computing (FC) addresses latency concerns by bringing computation and storage closer to the network edge, minimizing data travel distance, and enhancing efficiency. Offloading tasks to fog nodes or the cloud can conserve energy and extend IoT device lifespan. The offloading process is intricate, with tasks categorized as full or partial, and its optimization presents an NP-hard problem. Traditional greedy search methods struggle to address the complexity of task offloading efficiently. To overcome this, the efficient crow search algorithm (ECSA) has been proposed as a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. ECSA aims to effectively optimize computation offloading, providing solutions to this challenging problem.

Keywords: IoT, fog computing, task offloading, efficient crow search algorithm

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Authors: Vinod Kumar Gupta, Narendrakumar M. Chaudhari, Suchismitha Iskepalli, Chitra Dutta

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Background-The community composition of the human microbiome is known to vary at distinct anatomical niches. But little is known about the nature of variations if any, at the genome/sub-genome levels of a specific microbial community across different niches. The present report aims to explore, as a case study, the variations in gene repertoire of 28 Prevotella reference draft genomes derived from different body-sites of human, as reported earlier by the Human Microbiome Consortium. Results-The analysis reveals the exclusive presence of 11798, 3673, 3348 and 934 gene families and exclusive absence of 17, 221, 115 and 645 gene families in Prevotella genomes derived from the human oral cavity, gastro-intestinal tracts (GIT), urogenital tract (UGT) and skin, respectively. The pan-genome for Prevotella remains “open”. Distribution of various functional COG categories differs appreciably among the habitat-specific genes, within Prevotella pan-genome and between the GIT-derived Bacteroides and Prevotella. The skin and GIT isolates of Prevotella are enriched in singletons involved in Signal transduction mechanisms, while the UGT and oral isolates show higher representation of the Defense mechanisms category. No niche-specific variations could be observed in the distribution of KEGG pathways. Conclusion-Prevotella may have developed distinct genetic strategies for adaptation to different anatomical habitats through selective, niche-specific acquisition and elimination of suitable gene-families. In addition, individual microorganisms tend to develop their own distinctive adaptive stratagems through large repertoires of singletons. Such in situ, habitat-driven refurbishment of the genetic makeup can impart substantial intra-lineage genome diversity within the microbes without perturbing their general taxonomic heritage.

Keywords: body niche adaptation, human microbiome, pangenome, Prevotella

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Authors: Jihuai Wu, Zeyu Song, Zhang Lan, Liuxue Sun

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Solar energy is clean, open, and infinite, but solar radiation on the earth is fluctuating, intermittent, and unstable. So, the sustainable utilization of solar energy requires a combination of high-efficient energy conversion and low-loss energy storage technologies. Hence, a photo capacitor integrated with photo-electrical conversion and electric-chemical storage functions in single device is a cost-effective, volume-effective and functional-effective optimal choice. However, owing to the multiple components, multi-dimensional structure and multiple functions in one device, especially the mismatch of the functional modules, the overall conversion and storage efficiency of the photocapacitors is less than 13%, which seriously limits the development of the integrated system of solar conversion and energy storage. To this end, two typical photocapacitors were studied. A three-terminal photocapacitor was integrated by using perovskite solar cell as solar conversion module and symmetrical supercapacitor as energy storage module. A function portfolio management concept was proposed the relationship among various efficiencies during photovoltaic conversion and energy storage process were clarified. By harmonizing the energy matching between conversion and storage modules and seeking the maximum power points coincide and the maximum efficiency points synchronize, the overall efficiency of the photocapacitor surpassed 18 %, and Joule efficiency was closed to 90%. A voltage adjustable hybrid supercapacitor (VAHSC) was designed as energy storage module, and two Si wafers in series as solar conversion module, a three-terminal photocapacitor was fabricated. The VAHSC effectively harmonizes the energy harvest and storage modules, resulting in the current, voltage, power, and energy match between both modules. The optimal photocapacitor achieved an overall efficiency of 15.49% and Joule efficiency of 86.01%, along with excellent charge/discharge cycle stability. In addition, the Joule efficiency (ηJoule) was defined as the energy ratio of discharge/charge of the devices for the first time.

Keywords: joule efficiency, perovskite solar cell, photocapacitor, silicon solar cell, supercapacitor

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Authors: Peter J. Glinos

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The Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO), one of the largest international hubs for alternative educators led by Jerry Mintz, has had a major impact on the global alternative education movement. The organization’s publications, like the AERO-Gramme Newsletter and its successor, the Education Revolution Magazine, allowed members across the globe to discuss issues, share support, and submit writings on policies and reforms. Stored on AERO's online digital archive, this work uses these publications from 1989 to 2011 to investigate the network's entanglements with America, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Japan, India, and Guatemala. Inspired by Reinhart Koselleck, this historical analysis will trace AERO’s entanglements within the United States, Japan, and Russia, contextualizing each of these multiple temporalities within the history of each nation’s education system, the developments within AERO, and the global geo-political climate at the time of AERO’s expansion. To help remedy the lack of attention paid by global historians to the role state organizations play supporting global networks, as noted in What is Global History? by Sebastian Conrad, this work will focus on the relationship between AERO and state actors.

Keywords: global history, history of education, neoliberalism, transnational history, alternative education

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