Search results for: modern method

Authors: Imed Feki, Faouzi Msahli

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Selection of relevant parameters from a high dimensional process operation setting space is a problem frequently encountered in industrial process modelling. This paper presents a method for selecting the most relevant fabric physical parameters for each sensory quality feature. The proposed relevancy criterion has been developed using two approaches. The first utilizes a fuzzy sensitivity criterion by exploiting from experimental data the relationship between physical parameters and all the sensory quality features for each evaluator. Next an OWA aggregation procedure is applied to aggregate the ranking lists provided by different evaluators. In the second approach, another panel of experts provides their ranking lists of physical features according to their professional knowledge. Also by applying OWA and a fuzzy aggregation model, the data sensitivity-based ranking list and the knowledge-based ranking list are combined using our proposed percolation technique, to determine the final ranking list. The key issue of the proposed percolation technique is to filter automatically and objectively the relevant features by creating a gap between scores of relevant and irrelevant parameters. It permits to automatically generate threshold that can effectively reduce human subjectivity and arbitrariness when manually choosing thresholds. For a specific sensory descriptor, the threshold is defined systematically by iteratively aggregating (n times) the ranking lists generated by OWA and fuzzy models, according to a specific algorithm. Having applied the percolation technique on a real example, of a well known finished textile product especially the stonewashed denims, usually considered as the most important quality criteria in jeans’ evaluation, we separate the relevant physical features from irrelevant ones for each sensory descriptor. The originality and performance of the proposed relevant feature selection method can be shown by the variability in the number of physical features in the set of selected relevant parameters. Instead of selecting identical numbers of features with a predefined threshold, the proposed method can be adapted to the specific natures of the complex relations between sensory descriptors and physical features, in order to propose lists of relevant features of different sizes for different descriptors. In order to obtain more reliable results for selection of relevant physical features, the percolation technique has been applied for combining the fuzzy global relevancy and OWA global relevancy criteria in order to clearly distinguish scores of the relevant physical features from those of irrelevant ones.

Keywords: data sensitivity, feature selection, fuzzy logic, OWA operators, percolation technique

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Authors: Amin Sedighfar, M. R. Moniri

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Determination of state of charge (SOC) in today’s world becomes an increasingly important issue in all the applications that include a battery. In fact, estimation of the SOC is a fundamental need for the battery, which is the most important energy storage in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), smart grid systems, drones, UPS and so on. Regarding those applications, the SOC estimation algorithm is expected to be precise and easy to implement. This paper presents an online method for the estimation of the SOC of Valve-Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries. The proposed method uses the well-known Kalman Filter (KF), and Neural Networks (NNs) and all of the simulations have been done with MATLAB software. The NN is trained offline using the data collected from the battery discharging process. A generic cell model is used, and the underlying dynamic behavior of the model has used two capacitors (bulk and surface) and three resistors (terminal, surface, and end), where the SOC determined from the voltage represents the bulk capacitor. The aim of this work is to compare the performance of conventional integration-based SOC estimation methods with a mixed algorithm. Moreover, by containing the effect of temperature, the final result becomes more accurate. 

Keywords: Kalman filter, neural networks, state-of-charge, VRLA battery

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Hiroaki Fukuda

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This paper shows a concurrent development process for modern web application, called Rich Internet Application (RIA), and describes its effect using a non-trivial application development. In the last years, RIAs such as Ajax and Flex have become popular based mainly on high-speed network. RIA provides sophisticated interfaces and user experiences, therefore, the development of RIA requires two kinds of engineer: a developer who implements business logic, and a designer who designs interface and experiences. Although collaborative works are becoming important for the development of RIAs, shared resources such as source code make it difficult. For example, if a design of interface is modified after developers have finished business logic implementations, they need to repeat the same implementations, and also tests to verify application’s behavior. MVC architecture and Object-oriented programming (OOP) enables to dividing an application into modules such as interfaces and logic, however, developers and/or designers have to write pieces of code (e.g., event handlers) that make these modules work as an application. On the other hand, Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is ex- pected to solve complexity of application software development nowadays. AOP provides methods to separate crosscutting concerns that are scattered pieces of code from primary concerns. In this paper, we provide a concurrent development process for RIAs by introducing AOP concept. This process makes it possible to reduce shared resources between developers and designers, therefore they can perform their tasks concurrently. In addition, we describe experiences of development for a practical application using our proposed development process to show its availability.

Keywords: aspect-oriented programming, concurrent, development process, rich internet application

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Recep Kesli, Huseyin Bilgin, Yasar Unlu, Gokhan Gungor

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Aim: The aim of this study, was to investigate the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection by culture, histology, and RUT (Rapid Urease Test) in gastric antrum biopsy samples taken from patients presented with dyspeptic complaints and to determine resistance rates of amoxicillin, clarithromycin, levofloxacin and metronidazole against the H. pylori strains by E-test. Material and Methods: A total of 278 patients who admitted to Konya Education and Research Hospital Department of Gastroenterology with dyspeptic complaints, between January 2011-July 2013, were included in the study. Microbiological and histopathological examinations of biopsy specimens taken from antrum and corpus regions were performed. The presence of H. pylori in biopsy samples was investigated by culture (Portagerm pylori-PORT PYL, Pylori agar-PYL, GENbox microaer, bioMerieux, France), histology (Giemsa, Hematoxylin and Eosin staining), and RUT(CLOtest, Cimberly-Clark, USA). Antimicrobial resistance of isolates against amoxicillin, clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and metronidazole was determined by E-test method (bioMerieux, France). As a gold standard in the diagnosis of H. pylori; it was accepted that the culture method alone was positive or both histology and RUT were positive together. Sensitivity and specificity for histology and RUT were calculated by taking the culture as a gold standard. Sensitivity and specificity for culture were also calculated by taking the co-positivity of both histology and RUT as a gold standard. Results: H. pylori was detected in 140 of 278 of patients with culture and 174 of 278 of patients with histology in the study. H. pylori positivity was also found in 191 patients with RUT. According to the gold standard criteria, a false negative result was found in 39 cases by culture method, 17 cases by histology, and 8 cases by RUT. Sensitivity and specificity of the culture, histology, and RUT methods of the patients were 76.5 % and 88.3 %, 87.8 % and 63 %, 94.2 % and 57.2 %, respectively. Antibiotic resistance was investigated by E-test in 140 H. pylori strains isolated from culture. The resistance rates of H. pylori strains to the amoxicillin, clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and metronidazole was detected as 9 (6.4 %), 22 (15.7 %), 17 (12.1 %), 57 (40.7 %), respectively. Conclusion: In our study, RUT was found to be the most sensitive, culture was the most specific test between culture, histology, and RUT methods. Although we detected the specificity of the culture method as high, its sensitivity was found to be quite low compared to other methods. The low sensitivity of H. pylori culture may be caused by the factors affect the chances of direct isolation such as spoild bacterium, difficult-to-breed microorganism, clinical sample retrieval, and transport conditions.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, culture, histology, H. pylori, RUT

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Authors: Jelena Riznić

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Sexual violence is a social fact that is both ubiquitous and invisible. From the myth of Medusa and Lucretia, through legends about sexual violence in war conflicts, to Hollywood films and other productions — sexual violence exists as a motive, implicitly or explicitly. Many Hollywood films contain a scene of rape, and the media is increasingly reporting on cases of sexual violence, often not following the guidelines for sensitized and ethical reporting. On the other hand, sexual violence remains an invisible phenomenon if we are talking from the perspective of the survivors. Only the wave of women's testimonies that flooded social networks after the #MeToo campaign in 2017 pointed to the prevalence and to the existing ideas about sexual violence that persist at the level of myths in society, but also through formal norms in the hearing of justice systems. The problem is also in the way rape is defined in the criminal codes of different countries, and all of this affects the reproduction of sexual violence. Precisely because it is a deeply intimate experience of violence, but also a structural problem; on the other hand, understanding sexual violence requires sociological imagination. Accordingly, the subject of this paper is the presentation and analysis of various discourses on sexual violence throughout history — pre/anti-feminist, feminist and criminal law, with particular reference to the situation in Serbia. The paper uses a critical review and comparative analysis of various sources on sexual violence, as well as an analysis of the impact of these sources on the modern legal framework that regulates sexual violence. Research has shown that despite feminist contributions, myths about sexual violence persist and influence the treatment of women who have survived violence in criminal systems and society in general.

Keywords: sexual violence, gender-based violence, MeToo campaign, feminism, Serbia

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Authors: Xiongxiong You, Zhanwen Niu

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Choosing an appropriate surrogate model plays an important role in surrogates-assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) since there are many types and different kernel functions in the surrogate model. In this paper, an adaptive selection of the best suitable surrogate model method is proposed to solve different kinds of expensive optimization problems. Firstly, according to the prediction residual error sum of square (PRESS) and different model selection strategies, the excellent individual surrogate models are integrated into multiple ensemble models in each generation. Then, based on the minimum root of mean square error (RMSE), the best suitable surrogate model is selected dynamically. Secondly, two methods with dynamic number of models and selection strategies are designed, which are used to show the influence of the number of individual models and selection strategy. Finally, some compared studies are made to deal with several commonly used benchmark problems, as well as a rotor system optimization problem. The results demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.

Keywords: adaptive selection, expensive optimization, rotor system, surrogates assisted evolutionary algorithms

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Authors: Chana Pavneet

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Background: In more recent years in dentistry, a greater emphasis has been placed on competency-based education (CBE) programmes. Undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums have been reformed to reflect these changes, and adopting a CBE approach has shown to be beneficial to trainees and places an emphasis on continuous lifelong learning. The literature is vast; however, very little work has been done specifically to the assessment of competence in dentistry and even less so in oral surgery. The majority of the literature tends to opinion pieces. Some small-scale studies have been undertaken in this area researching assessment tools which can be used to assess competence in oral surgery. However, there is a lack of general consensus on the preferable assessment methods. The aim of this review is to identify the assessment methods available and their usefulness. Methods: Electronic databases (Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews) were searched. PRISMA guidelines were followed to identify relevant papers. Abstracts of studies were reviewed, and if they met the inclusion criteria, they were included in the review. Papers were reviewed against the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) checklist and medical education research quality instrument (MERQSI) to assess their quality and identify any bias in a systematic manner. The validity and reliability of each assessment method or tool were assessed. Results: A number of assessment methods were identified, including self-assessment, peer assessment, and direct observation of skills by someone senior. Senior assessment tended to be the preferred method, followed by self-assessment and, finally, peer assessment. The level of training was shown to affect the preferred assessment method, with one study finding peer assessment more useful in postgraduate trainees as opposed to undergraduate trainees. Numerous tools for assessment were identified, including a checklist scale and a global rating scale. Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but the evidence was more favourable for global rating scales in terms of reliability, applicability to more clinical situations, and easier to use for examiners. Studies also looked into trainees’ opinions on assessment tools. Logbooks were not found to be significant in measuring the competence of trainees. Conclusion: There is limited literature exploring the methods and tools which assess the competence of oral surgery trainees. Current evidence shows that the most favourable assessment method and tool may differ depending on the stage of training. More research is required in this area to streamline assessment methods and tools.

Keywords: competence, oral surgery, assessment, trainees, education

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Authors: Norhidayah Suleiman, Afza Zulfaka

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Zingiber officinale var. Bentong has been identified as the source of high added value compound specifically gingerol-related compounds. The extraction of the high-value compound using conventional method resulted in low yield and time consumption. Hence, the motivation for this work is to investigate the effect of the extraction technique on the essential oil from Zingiber officinale var. Bentong rhizome for commercialization purpose in many industries namely, functional food, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical. The investigation begins with a pre-treatment using ultrasound assisted in order to enhance the recovery of essential oil. It was conducted at a fixed frequency (20 kHz) of ultrasound with various time (10, 20, 40 min). The extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) were carried out afterward at a specific condition of temperature (50 °C) and pressure (30 MPa). scCO2 extraction seems to be a promising sustainable green method for the extraction of essential oil due to the benefits that CO2 possesses. The expected results demonstrated the ultrasound-assisted-scCO2 produces a higher yield of essential oil compared to solely scCO2 extraction. This research will provide important features for its application in food supplements or phytochemical preparations.

Keywords: essential oil, scCO2, ultrasound assisted, Zingiber officinale Var. Bentong

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Authors: Gilbert Makanda

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The problem of free convection from a perforated spinning cone with viscous dissipation, temperature-dependent viscosity, and partial slip was studied. The boundary layer velocity and temperature profiles were numerically computed for different values of the spin, viscosity variation, inertia drag force, Eckert, suction/blowing parameters. The partial differential equations were transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations which were solved using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. This paper considered the effect of partial slip and spin parameters on the swirling velocity profiles which are rarely reported in the literature. The results obtained by this method was compared to those in the literature and found to be in agreement. Increasing the viscosity variation parameter, spin, partial slip, Eckert number, Darcian drag force parameters reduce swirling velocity profiles.

Keywords: free convection, suction/injection, partial slip, viscous dissipation

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: P. C. Li, R. H. Feng, S. J. Chen, Y. J. Yu, Y. L. Chen, X. Y. Fan

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of mindfulness and wisdom comprehensive strategy intervention on addiction to the Internet of college students by engaging fourteen intensive full-day mindfulness-based wisdom retreat curriculum. Wisdom, one of the practice method from the threefold training. Internet addiction, a kind of impulse control disorder, which attract the attentions of society due to its high prevalence and harmfulness in the last decade. Therefore, the study of internet addiction intervention is urgent. Participants with internet addiction were Chinese college students and screened by internet addiction disorder diagnose questionnaire (IAD-DQ). A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design was used as research design. The finding shows that the mindfulness-based wisdom intervention strategy appeared to be effective in reducing the Internet addiction. Moreover, semi-structure interview method was conducted and outcomes included five themes: the reduction of internet use, the increment of awareness on emotion, self-control, present concentration and better positive lifestyle, indicating that mindfulness could be an effective intervention for this group with internet addiction.

Keywords: mindfulness, internet addiction, wisdom comprehensive intervention, cognitive-behavior therapy

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Authors: Ali Serhat Ersoyoğlu, Kevser Dincer, Salih Yayla, Derya Saygılı

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In this study, performance of membrane was experimentally investigated. A solution having 1,5 gr Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ)+ 10 mL methanol was prepared. This solution was taken out and filled into a spinning syringe. 6 grill-shaped wires having the sizes of 2x2 cm2’were cladded with YSZ + methanol solution by using the spinning method. After coating, the grill-shaped wires were left to dry. The dry wires were then weighed on a precision scale to determine the amount of coating imposed. The grill-shaped wires were mounted on the anode side of the PEM fuel cell membrane. Effects of the coating on the wires on current, power and resistance performances in the PEM fuel cells were determined experimentally and compared for every case. The highest current occurred at the 1st second on current #1, while the lowest current occurred at the 1171th second on current #6. The highest resistance was recorded at the 1171th second on resistance # 6, the lowest occurred at the 1st second on resistance # 1, whereas the highest power took place at the 1st second on power #1, the lowest power appeared at the 1171th second on power #5.

Keywords: membrane, electro-spinning method, Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia, fuel cells

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Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

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The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and power soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material, and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from the waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load–settlement curves have been reported. It has been observed from test results that the load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: factor of safety, finite element method (FEM), fly ash, plastic recycled polymer

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Authors: Nirmalasanti Pramesi

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In 2004 the CLD KHI Team offered several new ideas in the field of Islamic family law, such as marriage, inheritance (waris), and waqf. The new idea is based on six main principles; pluralism, nationality, human rights, democracy, maslahah, and gender equality. However, the existence of this has actually caused various criticisms, appreciations, and controversies. For this reason, CLD-KHI, as the idea of reforming family law, especially in the field of marriage, really needs to be studied academically with a comprehensive method as an unfinished problem. The main issues examined in this study are what are the ideas for reforming the law of marriage that have been formulated by the CLD KHI team, as well as how to implement Maqasid Sharia in legal reform. The methodology used in this research is a qualitative method with a normative-empirical-sociological approach. The results of this research show every substance of the idea considers aspects of locality, nationality, and global ethics. The Maqasid approach used in most of the legal provisions is moderate (wasati). Meanwhile, in matters of wali niqah and inheritance, it is adjusted to the context of Indonesian society.

Keywords: Maqasid syari'ah, CLD KHI, marriage law reform, moderate

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Authors: Z. Karakus, Z. Ozer

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Nurses are responsible for the care and treatment of individuals, as well as health maintenance and education. Medication administration is an important part of health promotion. The administration of a medicine is a common but important clinical procedure for nurses because of its complex structure. Therefore, medication errors are inevitable for nurses or nursing students. Medication errors can cause ineffective treatment, patient’s prolonged hospital stay, disablement, or death. Additionally, medication errors affect the global economy adversely by increasing health costs. Hence, preventing or decreasing of medication errors is a critical and essential issue in nursing. Nurse educators are in pursuit of new teaching methods to teach students significance of medication application. In the light of technological developments of this age, e-learning has started to be accepted as an important teaching method. E-learning is the use of electronic media and information and communication technologies in education. It has advantages such as flexibility of time and place, lower costs, faster delivery, and lower environmental impact. Students can make their own schedule and decide the learning method. This study is conducted to determine the impact of e-learning on medication administration of nursing students.

Keywords: e-learning, medication administration, nursing, nursing students

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Huy Hieu Pham, Houssam Salmane, Louahdi Khoudour, Alain Crouzil, Pablo Zegers, Sergio Velastin

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We present a deep learning-based multitask framework for joint 3D human pose estimation and action recognition from color video sequences. Our approach proceeds along two stages. In the first, we run a real-time 2D pose detector to determine the precise pixel location of important key points of the body. A two-stream neural network is then designed and trained to map detected 2D keypoints into 3D poses. In the second, we deploy the Efficient Neural Architecture Search (ENAS) algorithm to find an optimal network architecture that is used for modeling the Spatio-temporal evolution of the estimated 3D poses via an image-based intermediate representation and performing action recognition. Experiments on Human3.6M, Microsoft Research Redmond (MSR) Action3D, and Stony Brook University (SBU) Kinect Interaction datasets verify the effectiveness of the proposed method on the targeted tasks. Moreover, we show that our method requires a low computational budget for training and inference.

Keywords: human action recognition, pose estimation, D-CNN, deep learning

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Authors: Omar Khalifah

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The emergence of Muhammad Fadel’s 1996 film ‘Nasser 56’ ushered in a new era in Egyptian cinema. Not only was it the first biographical film of late Egyptian president Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser (1918-1970); it also broke a long-accepted taboo against cinematic depiction of modern political leaders. Passionately received by Egyptians and Arabs throughout the world, the success of ‘Nasser 56’ empowered other filmmakers to follow Fadel’s suit. Interestingly, the three biographical films that followed had, completely or partially, a Nasser dimension. In addition to another biographical film of Nasser, Anwar al-Qawadri’s ‘Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser’ (1999); Muhammad Khan’s ‘Ayyam al-Sadat (Days of Sadat)’ (2001), and Sherif Arafa’s ‘Halim (Halim)’ (2006) portray, as the titles clearly suggest, two significant figures whose lives thoroughly intersected with Nasser’s - Nasser’s successor Anwar al-Sadat and the legendary singer Abdel Halim Hafiz. Expectedly, therefore, Nasser himself is abundantly referenced in those films, albeit differently. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which Egyptian filmmakers impersonate Nasser on the screen. Starting with scholarly definitions of the biopic, the paper will first ponder the reasons that have made the biopic an unattractive genre to Egyptian filmmakers. It will then argue that the popularity of Nasser and his wide appeal to the public has transformed the status of the biopic genre in Egyptian cinema. However, the impersonation of Nasser in the four films above proved a daunting mission to filmmakers. As this paper will show, unless he is the main character, the reenactment of Nasser in films will constantly pose dilemmas to filmmakers, a few of which will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Ahmad Zaki, bio-pictures, Egyptian cinema, Nasser, Nasser 56

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Authors: Enny Suswati, Supangat Supangat

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Background. Ready-to-eat food products are becoming increasingly popular because consumers are increasingly busy, competitive, and changing lifestyles. Examples of ready-to-eat foods include crispy fried chicken. Escherichia coli is one of the most important causes of food-borne diseases and the most frequent antibiotic-resistant pathogen globally. This study assessed the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profile of E. coli from ready-to-eat crispy fried chicken in Jember city, Indonesia. Methodology. This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to April 2021 by collecting 81crispy fried chicken samples from 27 food stalls in campus area using a simple random sampling method. Isolation and determination of E. coli use were performed by conventional culture method. An antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method on the Mueller–Hinton agar. Result. Out of 81crispy fried chicken samples, 77 (95.06%) were positive for E. coli. High E. coli drug resistance was observed on ampicillin, amoxicillin (100%) followed by cefixime (98.72%), erythromycin (97.59%), sulfamethoxazole (93.59%), azithromicin (83.33%), cefotaxime (78.28%), choramphenicol (75.64%), and cefixime (74.36%). On the other hand, there was the highest susceptibility for ciprofloxacin (64.10%). The multiple antibiotic resistance indexes of E. coli isolates varied from 0.4 to 1. The predominant antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli were CfmCroAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=17), CfmCroAmlCipAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=16), and CfmAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=5), respectively. Multidrug resistance was also found in the isolates' 76/77 (98.70%). Conclusion. The resistance pattern CfmCroAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE was the most common among the E. coli isolates, with 17 showing it. The multiple antibiotic index (MAR index) ranged from 0.4 to 1. Hygienic measures should be rigorously implemented and monitoring resistance of E. coli is required to reduce the risks related to the emergence of multi-resistant bacteria

Keywords: antibacterial drug, ready to eat, crispy fried chicken, escherichia coli

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Fils Olivier Kamanzi

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This research Paper shows that materials CFRP were used to rehabilitate 9 Beams and retrofitting of 9 Beams with size (125x250x2300) mm each for M50 grade of concrete with 20% of Volume of Cement replaced by GGBS as a mineral Admixture. Superplasticizer (ForscoConplast SP430) used to reduce the water-cement ratio and maintaining good workability of fresh concrete (Slump test 57mm). Concrete Mix ratio 1:1.56:2.66 with a water-cement ratio of 0.31(ACI codebooks). A sample of 6cubes sized (150X150X150) mm, 6cylinders sized (150ФX300H) mm and 6Prisms sized (100X100X500) mm were cast, cured, and tested for 7,14&28days by compressive, tensile and flexure test; finally, mix design reaches the compressive strength of 59.84N/mm2. 21 Beams were cast and cured for up to 28 days, 3Beams were tested by a two-point loading machine as Control beams. 9 Beams were distressed in flexure by adopting failure up to final Yielding point under two-point loading conditions by taking 90% off Ultimate load. Three sets, each composed of three distressed beams, were rehabilitated by using CFRP sheets, one, two & three layers, respectively, and after being retested up to failure mode. Another three sets were freshly retrofitted also by using CFRP sheets one, two & three layers, respectively, and being tested by a two-point load method of compression strength testing machine. The aim of this study is to determine the flexural Strength & behaviors of repaired and retrofitted Beams by CFRP sheets for gaining good strength and considering economic aspects. The results show that rehabilitated beams increase its strength 47 %, 78 % & 89 %, respectively, to thickness of CFRP sheets and 41%, 51 %& 68 %, respectively too, for retrofitted Beams. The conclusion is that three layers of CFRP sheets are the best applicable in repairing and retrofitting the bonded beams method.

Keywords: retrofitting, rehabilitation, cfrp, rcc beam, flexural strength and behaviors, ggbs, and epoxy resin

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Authors: Muhammad Zaheer Babar, Amer Kashif, Muhammad Rizwan Javed

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Nowadays distributed generation integration is best way to overcome the increasing load demand. Optimal allocation of distributed generation plays a vital role in reducing system losses and improves voltage profile. In this paper, a Meta heuristic technique is proposed for allocation of DG in order to reduce power losses and improve voltage profile. The proposed technique is based on Multi Objective Particle Swarm optimization. Fewer control parameters are needed in this algorithm. Modification is made in search space of PSO. The effectiveness of proposed technique is tested on IEEE 33 bus test system. Single DG as well as multiple DG scenario is adopted for proposed method. Proposed method is more effective as compared to other Meta heuristic techniques and gives better results regarding system losses and voltage profile.

Keywords: Distributed generation (DG), Multi Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO), particle swarm optimization (PSO), IEEE standard Test System

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Authors: S. J. Arif

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In the presented technique, a simple method is given for accurate measurement and control of power frequency deviation. The sinusoidal signal for which the frequency deviation measurement is required is transformed to a low voltage level and passed through a zero crossing detector to convert it into a pulse train. Another stable square wave signal of 10 KHz is obtained using a crystal oscillator and decade dividing assemblies (DDA). These signals are combined digitally and then passed through decade counters to give a unique combination of pulses or levels, which are further encoded to make them equally suitable for both control applications and display units. The developed circuit using discrete components has a resolution of 0.5 Hz and completes measurement within 20 ms. The realized circuit is simulated and synthesized using Verilog HDL and subsequently implemented on FPGA. The results of measurement on FPGA are observed on a very high resolution logic analyzer. These results accurately match the simulation results as well as the results of same circuit implemented with discrete components. The proposed system is suitable for accurate measurement and control of power frequency deviation.

Keywords: digital encoder for frequency measurement, frequency deviation measurement, measurement and control systems, power systems

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Authors: Ali Khaleel Kareem, Shian Gao, Ahmed Qasim Ahmed

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A numerical investigation of unsteady mixed convection heat transfer in a 3D moving top wall enclosure, which has a central rotating cylinder and uses either artificial roughness on the bottom hot plate or smooth bottom hot plate to study the heat transfer enhancement, is completed for fixed circular cylinder, and anticlockwise and clockwise rotational speeds, -1 ≤ Ω ≤ 1, at Reynolds number of 5000. The top lid-driven wall was cooled, while the other remaining walls that completed obstructed cubic were kept insulated and motionless. A standard k-ε model of Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) method is involved to deal with turbulent flow. It has been clearly noted that artificial roughness can strongly control the thermal fields and fluid flow patterns. Ultimately, the heat transfer rate has been dramatically increased by involving artificial roughness on the heated bottom wall in the presence of rotating cylinder.

Keywords: artificial roughness, lid-driven cavity, mixed convection heat transfer, rotating cylinder, URANS method

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Authors: Gamal F.Attia

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The baselines are the distances and lengths of the chords between projections of the positions of the laser stations on the reference ellipsoid. For the satellite geodesy, it is very important to determine the optimal length of orbital arc along which laser measurements are to be carried out. It is clear that for the dynamical methods long arcs (one month or more) are to be used. According to which more errors of modeling of different physical forces such as earth's gravitational field, air drag, solar radiation pressure, and others that may influence the accuracy of the estimation of the satellites position, at the same time the measured errors con be almost completely excluded and high stability in determination of relative coordinate system can be achieved. It is possible to diminish the influence of the errors of modeling by using short-arcs of the satellite orbit (several revolutions or days), but the station's coordinates estimated by different arcs con differ from each other by a larger quantity than statistical zero. Under the semidynamical ‘short arc’ method one or several passes of the satellite in one of simultaneous visibility from both ends of the chord is known and the estimated parameter in this case is the length of the chord. The comparison of the same baselines calculated with long and short arcs methods shows a good agreement and even speaks in favor of the last one. In this paper the Short Arc technique has been explained and 3 baselines have been determined using the ‘short arc’ method.

Keywords: baselines, short arc, dynamical, gravitational field

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Authors: G. Lei, P. C. Dong, X. Q. Cen, S. Y. Mo

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One of the most significant parameters, describing the effect of water flooding in porous media, is flood-response time, and it is an important index in oilfield development. The responding time in low permeability reservoir is usually calculated by the method of stable state successive substitution neglecting the effect of medium deformation. Numerous studies show that the media deformation has an important impact on the development for low permeability reservoirs and can not be neglected. On the base of streamline tube model, we developed a method to interpret responding time with medium deformation factor. The results show that: the media deformation factor, threshold pressure gradient and well spacing have a significant effect on the flood response time. The greater the media deformation factor, threshold pressure gradient or well spacing is, the lower the flood response time is. The responding time of different streamlines varies. As the angle with the main streamline increases, the water flooding response time delays as a "parabola" shape.

Keywords: low permeability, flood-response time, threshold pressure gradient, medium deformation

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Authors: Nagore Guerra Bilbao, Clemente Lobato Fraile

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Mentoring is provided by professionals with a higher level of experience and competence as part of the professional development of a university faculty. This paper explores the characteristics of the mentoring provided by those teachers participating in the development of an active methodology program run at the University of the Basque Country: to examine and to analyze mentors’ performance with the aim of providing empirical evidence regarding its value as a lifelong learning strategy for teaching staff. A total of 183 teachers were trained during the first three programs. The analysis method uses a coding technique and is based on flexible, systematic guidelines for gathering and analyzing qualitative data. The results have confirmed the conception of mentoring as a methodological innovation in higher education. In short, university teachers in general assessed the mentoring they received positively, considering it to be a valid, useful strategy in their professional development. They highlighted the methodological expertise of their mentor and underscored how they monitored the learning process of the active method and provided guidance and advice when necessary. Finally, they also drew attention to traits such as availability, personal commitment and flexibility in. However, a minority critique is pointed to some aspects of the performance of some mentors.

Keywords: higher education, mentoring, professional development, university teachers

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Authors: C. Brecher, M. Fey, F. Du Bois-Reymond, S. Neus

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Additive manufacturing has emerged into a fast-growing section within the manufacturing technologies. Established machine tool manufacturers, such as DMG MORI, recently presented machine tools combining milling and laser welding. By this, machine tools can realize a higher degree of flexibility and a shorter production time. Still there are challenges that have to be accounted for in terms of maintaining the necessary machining accuracy - especially due to thermal effects arising through the use of high power laser processing units. To study the thermal behavior of laser-integrated machine tools, it is essential to analyze and simulate the thermal behavior of machine components, individual and assembled. This information will help to design a geometrically stable machine tool under the influence of high power laser processes. This paper presents an approach to decrease the loss of machining precision due to thermal impacts. Real effects of laser machining processes are considered and thus enable an optimized design of the machine tool, respective its components, in the early design phase. Core element of this approach is a matched FEM model considering all relevant variables arising, e.g. laser power, angle of laser beam, reflective coefficients and heat transfer coefficient. Hence, a systematic approach to obtain this matched FEM model is essential. Indicating the thermal behavior of structural components as well as predicting the laser beam path, to determine the relevant beam intensity on the structural components, there are the two constituent aspects of the method. To match the model both aspects of the method have to be combined and verified empirically. In this context, an essential machine component of a five axis machine tool, the turn-swivel table, serves as the demonstration object for the verification process. Therefore, a turn-swivel table test bench as well as an experimental set-up to measure the beam propagation were developed and are described in the paper. In addition to the empirical investigation, a simulative approach of the described types of experimental examination is presented. Concluding, it is shown that the method and a good understanding of the two core aspects, the thermo-elastic machine behavior and the laser beam path, as well as their combination helps designers to minimize the loss of precision in the early stages of the design phase.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, laser beam machining, machine tool, thermal effects

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Authors: Purevdolgor Luvsantseren, Ajnai Luvsan-Ish, Oyuntsetseg Sandag, Javzmaa Tsend, Akhit Tileubai, Baasandorj Chilhaasuren, Jargalbat Puntsagdash, Galbadrakh Chuluunbaatar

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One of the indicators of the quality of university services is student satisfaction. Aim: We aimed to study the level of satisfaction of students in the first year of premedical courses in the course of Medical Physics using the cluster method. Materials and Methods: In the framework of this goal, a questionnaire was collected from a total of 324 students who studied the medical physics course of the 1st course of the premedical course at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. When determining the level of satisfaction, the answers were obtained on five levels of satisfaction: "excellent", "good", "medium", "bad" and "very bad". A total of 39 questionnaires were collected from students: 8 for course evaluation, 19 for teacher evaluation, and 12 for student evaluation. From the research, a database with 39 fields and 324 records was created. Results: In this database, cluster analysis was performed in MATLAB and R programs using the k-means method of data mining. Calculated the Hopkins statistic in the created database, the values are 0.88, 0.87, and 0.97. This shows that cluster analysis methods can be used. The course evaluation sub-fund is divided into three clusters. Among them, cluster I has 150 objects with a "good" rating of 46.2%, cluster II has 119 objects with a "medium" rating of 36.7%, and Cluster III has 54 objects with a "good" rating of 16.6%. The teacher evaluation sub-base into three clusters, there are 179 objects with a "good" rating of 55.2% in cluster II, 108 objects with an "average" rating of 33.3% in cluster III, and 36 objects with an "excellent" rating in cluster I of 11.1%. The sub-base of student evaluations is divided into two clusters: cluster II has 215 objects with an "excellent" rating of 66.3%, and cluster I has 108 objects with an "excellent" rating of 33.3%. Evaluating the resulting clusters with the Silhouette coefficient, 0.32 for the course evaluation cluster, 0.31 for the teacher evaluation cluster, and 0.30 for student evaluation show statistical significance. Conclusion: Finally, to conclude, cluster analysis in the model of the medical physics lesson “good” - 46.2%, “middle” - 36.7%, “bad” - 16.6%; 55.2% - “good”, 33.3% - “middle”, 11.1% - “bad” in the teacher evaluation model; 66.3% - “good” and 33.3% of “bad” in the student evaluation model.

Keywords: questionnaire, data mining, k-means method, silhouette coefficient

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Authors: Victorita Radulescu

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Introduction: The optimum exploitation of agricultural land in the presence of an aquifer polluted by the surface sources requires close monitoring of groundwater level in both periods of intense irrigation and in absence of the irrigations, in times of drought. Currently in Romania, in the south part of the country, the Baragan area, many agricultural lands are confronted with the risk of groundwater pollution in the absence of systematic irrigation, correlated with the climate changes. Basic Methods: The non-steady flow of the groundwater from an aquifer can be described by the Bousinesq’s partial differential equation. The finite element method was used, applied to the porous media needed for the water mass balance equation. By the proper structure of the initial and boundary conditions may be modeled the flow in drainage or injection systems of wells, according to the period of irrigation or prolonged drought. The boundary conditions consist of the groundwater levels required at margins of the analyzed area, in conformity to the reality of the pollutant emissaries, following the method of the double steps. Major Findings/Results: The drainage condition is equivalent to operating regimes on the two or three rows of wells, negative, as to assure the pollutant transport, modeled with the variable flow in groups of two adjacent nodes. In order to obtain the level of the water table, in accordance with the real constraints, are needed, for example, to be restricted its top level below of an imposed value, required in each node. The objective function consists of a sum of the absolute values of differences of the infiltration flow rates, increased by a large penalty factor when there are positive values of pollutant. In these conditions, a balanced structure of the pollutant concentration is maintained in the groundwater. The spatial coordinates represent the modified parameters during the process of optimization and the drainage flows through wells. Conclusions: The presented calculation scheme was applied to an area having a cross-section of 50 km between two emissaries with various levels of altitude and different values of pollution. The input data were correlated with the measurements made in-situ, such as the level of the bedrock, the grain size of the field, the slope, etc. This method of calculation can also be extended to determine the variation of the groundwater in the aquifer following the flood wave propagation in envoys.

Keywords: environmental protection, infiltrations, numerical modeling, pollutant transport through soils

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Authors: Fulya Ozbey, Ecehan Ozmehmet

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Health and living in a healthy environment are important for all the living creatures. Healthy buildings are the part of the healthy environment and the ones that people and sometimes the animals spend most of their times in it. Therefore, healthy buildings are important subject for everybody. There are many elements of the healthy buildings from material choice to the thermal comfort including indoor air quality. The aim of this study is, to simulate two natural ventilation strategies which are used as a cooling method in Mediterranean climate, by applying to a residential building and compare the results for Asian climate. Fulltime natural and night-time ventilation strategies are simulated for three days during the summertime in Mediterranean climate. The results show that one of the chosen passive cooling strategies worked on both climates good enough without using additional shading element and cooling device, however, the other ventilation strategy did not provide comfortable indoor temperature enough. Finally, both of the ventilation strategies worked better on the Asian climate than the Mediterranean in terms of the total overheating hours during the chosen period of year.

Keywords: Asian climate, indoor air quality, Mediterranean climate, natural ventilation simulation, thermal comfort

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Authors: Thanyasinee Laosum, Sirichai Kanjanawasee, Taweewat Pitayanon

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of dissertation in humanities and social sciences in Thai private universities.Seven hundred and fifty dissertations of students graduating between 2007-2013 from 12 private universities were randomly sampled. The 5-point rating scale for the evaluation of the dissertations was developed. The rubric method was used in scoring. The overall content validity of the scale was .92. The individual content validities of the scale were ranged from .71 to 1.00. The concurrent validities were significant at the .01 level with the value from .849 to .959. The inter-rater reliabilities were significant related at the .01 level with the value from .810 to .959. The test-retest method was used to find the reliabilities and significant related at the .01 level with the value from .944 to .966. The descriptive statistics was used in the analysis of the collected data. The study found that, among 750 dissertations, those that were rated as excellent, above average, average standard, below standard, and need to be improved were, 0.1 %, 13.3 %, 74.7 %, 11.7 %, and 0.1 % respectively. It was, therefore, concluded that the overall quality of the dissertations was in accordance with the principle of the research methodology and the quality of the majority of the dissertations is closely related.

Keywords: quality of dissertation, quality of dissertation in humanities and social sciences, private university, reliability

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Authors: Anton Andreev

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With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of a large part of the socialist regimes, left-wing parties all over the world entered the space of crisis, of problems with ideology, identity, with the definition of its goals and objectives. First of all, we can say that the communist parties actually lost their foundation. In 1992, despite the victory of left-wing forces, a Broad Front in which was the winner in the struggle against dictatorship plunged into a deep crisis, the nature of which is looking for a new platform, a new foundation, new goals. Thus, in the late 20th century, the party has revised theoretical beliefs and positions. Radical communist ideology was moderated to social reformism. Modern leftist movement in Uruguay is a movement of moderate reform. Left forces suggest going through successive changes. Changes in ideology and ideas have influenced to the understanding of foreign policy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Broad Front has changed the direction of its diplomacy from the orientation to the Soviet state to support the USA policy. Government formed by Broad Front, supported the integration processes in the South America. Uruguay was developing the cooperation in the framework of MERCOSUR and began to create relationship with the new centers of power in world political space. Uruguay in the early 21st century is a country that starts to play important role in the international arena. Elections of 26 October 2014 should answer the question of support of internal policy of a Broad Front, as well as of the support of the diplomatic work of the "Left" governments of the country.

Keywords: Uruguay, broad front, Vazquez, international dimensions

Procedia PDF Downloads 339