Search results for: signal processing for transmission carrier frequency offset

Authors: Peter Ferguson

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In 2018, Japan’s Ministry of Education revised the public elementary school curriculum. As part of widespread reforms, the recent Course of Study established English as an academic subject in Grades 5 and 6 plus lowered the starting age of 'foreign language activities' to Grade 3. These changes were implemented in April 2020. This presentation will examine the process and effects that policy implementation had on schools and teachers. A critical analysis of the 2018 Course of Study policy documents revealed several discourses were expressed concerning not only English education and foreign language acquisition, but that larger political and socioeconomic ideological beliefs on globalization, language, nation, culture, and identity were also articulated. Using excerpts from document analysis, the presenter will demonstrate how competing discourses were expressed in policy texts. Data from interviews with national policymakers also exposed several challenges policymakers faced as they tried to balance competing discourses and articulate important pedagogical concepts while having their voices heard. Findings show that some stakeholders were marginalized during the processes of policy creation, transmission, and implementation. This presentation is part of a larger multiple case study that utilized ethnography of language policy and critical analysis of discourse to examine how English education language policy was implemented into the national elementary school curriculum in Japan, and how stakeholders at the various educational levels contended with the creation, interpretation, and appropriation of the language policy.

Keywords: ethnography of language policy, elementary school EFL, language ideologies, discourse analysis

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Authors: Mohd. A. M. Rahim, Yahaya Hassan, Mathumalar L. Fahrni

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Second line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen is used when patients fail their first line regimen. There are many factors such as non-adherence, drug resistance as well as virological and immunological failure that lead to second line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen treatment failure. This study was aimed at determining predictor factors to treatment failure with second line HAART and analyzing median survival time. An observational, retrospective study was conducted in Sungai Buloh Hospital (HSB) to assess current status of HIV patients treated with second line HAART regimen. Convenience sampling was used and 104 patients were included based on the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data was collected for six months i.e. from July until December 2013. Data was then analysed using SPSS version 18. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to measure median survival times and predictor factors for treatment failure. The study population consisted mainly of male subjects, aged 30-45 years, who were heterosexual, and had HIV infection for less than 6 years. The most common second line HAART regimen given was lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based combination. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients on LPV/r demonstrated longer median survival times than patients on indinavir/ritonavir (IDV/r) based combination (p<0.001). The commonest reason for a treatment to fail with second line HAART was non-adherence. Based on Cox regression analysis, other predictor factors for treatment failure with second line HAART regimen were age and mode of HIV transmission.

Keywords: adherence, antiretroviral therapy, second line, treatment failure

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Authors: S. M. Giripunje, Shikha Jindal

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Zinc sulphide (ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized successfully via simple sonochemical method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis revealed the average size of QDs of the order of 3.7 nm. The band gap of the QDs was tuned to 5.2 eV by optimizing the synthesis parameters. UV-Vis absorption spectra of ZnS QD confirm the quantum confinement effect. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of single phase ZnS QDs. To fabricate the diode, blend of ZnS QDs and P3HT was prepared and the heterojunction of PEDOT:PSS and the blend was formed by spin coating on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. The diode behaviour of the heterojunction was analysed, wherein the ideality factor was found to be 2.53 with turn on voltage 0.75 V and the barrier height was found to be 1.429 eV. ZnS-Graphene QDs nanocomposite was characterised for the surface morphological study. It was found that the synthesized ZnS QDs appear as quasi spherical particles on the graphene sheets. The average particle size of ZnS-graphene nanocomposite QDs was found to be 8.4 nm. From voltage-current characteristics of ZnS-graphene nanocomposites, it is observed that the conductivity of the composite increases by 10⁴ times the conductivity of ZnS QDs. Thus the addition of graphene QDs in ZnS QDs enhances the mobility of the charge carriers in the composite material. Thus, the graphene QDs, with high specific area for a large interface, high mobility and tunable band gap, show a great potential as an electron-acceptors in photovoltaic devices.

Keywords: graphene, heterojunction, quantum confinement effect, quantum dots(QDs), zinc sulphide(ZnS)

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Authors: Hamioud Saida, Khalfallah Salah

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In this study, a spectral element method is employed to predict the free vibration of a Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on a Winkler foundation with elastically restrained ends. The formulation of the dynamic stiffness matrix has been established by solving the differential equation of motion, which was transformed to frequency domain. Non-dimensional natural frequencies and shape modes are obtained by solving the partial differential equations, numerically. Numerical comparisons and examples are performed to show the effectiveness of the SEM and to investigate the effects of various parameters, such as the springs at the boundaries and the elastic foundation parameter on the vibration frequencies. The obtained results demonstrate that the present method can also be applied to solve the more general problem of the dynamic analysis of structures with higher order precision.

Keywords: elastically supported Euler-Bernoulli beam, free-vibration, spectral element method, Winkler foundation

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Authors: Ashagrie Getnet Flattie

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Line-of-sight (LOS) information, data rates, good quality, and flexible network service are limited by the fact that, for the duration of any given connection, they experience severe variation in signal strength due to fading and path loss. Wireless system faces major challenges in achieving wide coverage and capacity without affecting the system performance and to access data everywhere, all the time. In this paper, the cell coverage and edge rate of different Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) schemes in 20 MHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) system under Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) platform are investigated. After some background on the enormous potential of UAV, MIMO, and LTE in wireless links, the paper highlights the presented system model which attempts to realize the various benefits of MIMO being incorporated into UAV platform. The performances of the three MIMO LTE schemes are compared with the performance of 4x4 MIMO LTE in UAV scheme carried out to evaluate the improvement in cell radius, BER, and data throughput of the system in different morphology. The results show that significant performance gains such as bit error rate (BER), data rate, and coverage can be achieved by using the presented scenario.

Keywords: LTE, MIMO, path loss, UAV

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Authors: Bruno T. Gomes, José A. Menezes, Giordano Cabral

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With the popularity of smartphones, mobile apps emerge to meet the diverse needs, however the resources at the disposal are limited, either by the hardware, due to the low computing power, or the software, that does not have the same robustness of desktop environment. For example, in automatic audio classification (AC) tasks, musical information retrieval (MIR) subarea, is required a fast processing and a good success rate. However the mobile platform has limited computing power and the best AC tools are only available for desktop. To solve these problems the fast classifier suits, to mobile environments, the most widespread MIR technologies, seeking a balance in terms of speed and robustness. At the end we found that it is possible to enjoy the best of MIR for mobile environments. This paper presents the results obtained and the difficulties encountered.

Keywords: audio classification, audio extraction, environment mobile, musical information retrieval

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Authors: Efendi Zaenudin, Chien-Hung Huang, Ka-Lok Ng

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Essential genes play an important role in the survival of an organism. It has been shown that cancer-associated essential genes are genes necessary for cancer cell proliferation, where these genes are potential therapeutic targets. Also, it was demonstrated that mutations of the cancer-associated essential genes give rise to the resistance of immunotherapy for patients with tumors. In the present study, we focus on studying the biological effects of the essential genes from a network perspective. We hypothesize that one can analyze a biological molecular network by decomposing it into both three-node and four-node digraphs (subgraphs). These network subgraphs encode the regulatory interaction information among the network’s genetic elements. In this study, the frequency of occurrence of the subgraph-associated essential genes in a molecular network was quantified by using the statistical parameter, odds ratio. Biological effects of subgraph-associated essential genes are discussed. In summary, the subgraph approach provides a systematic method for analyzing molecular networks and it can capture useful biological information for biomedical research.

Keywords: biological molecular networks, essential genes, graph theory, network subgraphs

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Authors: Sulistyaningtyas

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Examining the role of Middle Eastern freedom activists’ speech based on gender perspective is considered noteworthy because the society in the Middle East is patriarchal. This research aims to examine the language use of the Middle Eastern freedom activists’ speeches through gender perspective. The data sources are from male and female Middle Eastern freedom activists’ speech videos. In analyzing the data, the theories employed are about Language Style from Gender Perspective and The Language for Speech. The result reveals that there are sets of spoken language differences between male and female speakers. In using the language for speech, both male and female speakers produce metaphor, euphemism, the ‘rule of three’, parallelism, and pronouns in random frequency of production, which cannot be separated by genders. Moreover, it cannot be concluded that one gender is more potential than the other to influence the audience in delivering speech. There are other factors, particularly non-verbal factors, existing to give impacts on how a speech can influence the audience.

Keywords: gender perspective, language use, Middle Eastern freedom activists, speech

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Authors: E. E. EL-Kholy, Ahamed Kalas, Mahmoud Fauzy, M. El-Shahat Dessouki, Abdou M. El-refay, Mohammed El-Zefery

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Direct Torque Control (DTC) is an AC drive control method especially designed to provide fast and robust responses. In this paper a progressive algorithm for direct torque control of three-phase induction drive system supplied by photovoltaic arrays using voltage source inverter to control motor torque and flux with maximum power point tracking at different level of insolation is presented. Experimental results of the new DTC method obtained by an experimental rapid prototype system for drives are presented. Simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed system gives quick, robust torque and speed responses at constant switching frequencies.

Keywords: photovoltaic (PV) array, direct torque control (DTC), constant switching frequency, induction motor, maximum power point tracking (MPPT)

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Authors: Hassan A. Alshahrani, Mehdi H. Hojjati

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In order to predict and model wrinkling which is caused by out of plane deformation due to compressive loading in the plane of the material during composite prepregs forming, it is necessary to quantitatively understand the relative magnitude of the bending stiffness. This study aims to examine the bending properties of out-of-autoclave (OOA) thermosetting prepreg under vertical cantilever test condition. A direct method for characterizing the bending behavior of composite prepregs was developed. The results from direct measurement were compared with results derived from an image-processing procedure that analyses the captured image during the vertical bending test. A numerical simulation was performed using ABAQUS to confirm the bending stiffness value.

Keywords: Bending stiffness, out-of-autoclave prepreg, forming process, numerical simulation.

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Authors: Yufen Qin

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Text sentiment transfer is an important branch of text style transfer. The goal is to generate text with another sentiment attribute based on a text with a specific sentiment attribute while maintaining the content and semantic information unrelated to sentiment unchanged in the process. There are currently two main challenges in this field: no parallel corpus and text attribute entanglement. In response to the above problems, this paper proposed a novel solution: Mask-Prompt-Rerank. Use the method of masking the sentiment words and then using prompt regeneration to transfer the sentence sentiment. Experiments on two sentiment benchmark datasets and one formality transfer benchmark dataset show that this approach makes the performance of small pre-trained language models comparable to that of the most advanced large models, while consuming two orders of magnitude less computing and memory.

Keywords: language model, natural language processing, prompt, text sentiment transfer

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Authors: Rewadee Waiyawassana

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The objectives of the research on Thai tourists’ satisfaction of visiting Southern of Thailand are i) to study the Thai tourists’ satisfaction who select southern of Thailand as their destinations ii) to study their tourist’s decision making process in Southern of Thailand. The samples of the study are 619 Thai visitors at Southern of Thailand by accidental sampling technic and focus group interview for 12 key informant by purposive sampling. The data analysis includes Percentage, Frequency and One-way ANOVA. The findings from the research are the satisfaction of Thai visitors on southern of Thailand ranks from the resources of the destination, transportation, convenience, security, and promotion and public relations; with the high level of satisfaction on all the factors the government or responsible agencies should also modernize the marketing and public relation with increasing public relations, the potential visitors shall be updated with new information and alternative tourist destination also.

Keywords: public relations, Southern of Thailand, Thai Tourists’ satisfaction, Tourist’s decision making process

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Authors: Yuntao Liu, Lei Wang, Haoran Xia

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Machine learning has shown extensive applications in the development of classification models for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using neural image data. This paper proposes a fusion multi-modal classification network based on a graph neural network. First, the brain is segmented into 116 regions of interest using a medical segmentation template (AAL, Anatomical Automatic Labeling). The image features of sMRI and the signal features of fMRI are extracted, which build the node and edge embedding representations of the brain map. Then, we construct a dynamically updated brain map neural network and propose a method based on a dynamic brain map adjacency matrix update mechanism and learnable graph to further improve the accuracy of autism diagnosis and recognition results. Based on the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I dataset(ABIDE I), we reached a prediction accuracy of 74% between ASD and TD subjects. Besides, to study the biomarkers that can help doctors analyze diseases and interpretability, we used the features by extracting the top five maximum and minimum ROI weights. This work provides a meaningful way for brain disorder identification.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, brain map, supervised machine learning, graph network, multimodal data, model interpretability

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Authors: Ssu-Han Chen, Der-Baau Perng

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Molding process in IC manufacturing secures chips against the harms done by hot, moisture or other external forces. While a chip was being molded, defects like cracks, dilapidation, or voids may be embedding on the molding surface. The molding surfaces the study poises to treat and the ones on the market, though, differ in the surface where texture similar to defects is everywhere. Manual inspection usually passes over low-contrast cracks or voids; hence an automatic optical inspection system for molding surface is necessary. The proposed system is consisted of a CCD, a coaxial light, a back light as well as a motion control unit. Based on the property of statistical textures of the molding surface, a series of digital image processing and classification procedure is carried out. After training of the parameter associated with above algorithm, result of the experiment suggests that the accuracy rate is up to 93.75%, contributing to the inspection quality of IC molding surface.

Keywords: molding surface, machine vision, statistical texture, discrete Fourier transformation

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Authors: Rita Gill Singh, Alex Chun Koon, Cindy Sing Bik Ngai, Joanna Wen Ying Ho, Mei Li Khong, Enoch Chan, Terrence Lau

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Although humour is viewed as a beneficial element in teaching, there has been little attempt to systematize humour in teaching, possibly because it is difficult to teach someone to be humorous. This study integrated planned humour pedagogical approach into teaching and learning activities and examined the effect of systematically planned humour on students’ engagement and learning in different courses. Specifically, appropriate types of humour (i.e. analogy, absurdity and wordplay) and incorporation methods and frequency were systematically integrated into the lessons of courses at some higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The results showed that the planned humour pedagogical approach increased student engagement, as well as enhanced learning and motivation while reducing students’ stress. The pedagogical implications of this study will be useful for researchers, practitioners, and educators.

Keywords: higher education, pedagogy, humour, student engagement, learning, motivation

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Authors: Oscar Vega Camacho, Andrea Vargas, Ellery Ariza

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This paper presents the application of finite dynamic programming, specifically the "Markov Chain" model, as part of the decision making process of a company in the cosmetics sector located in the vicinity of Bogota DC. The objective of this process was to decide whether the company should completely reconstruct its waste water treatment plant or instead optimize the plant through the addition of equipment. The goal of both of these options was to make the required improvements in order to comply with parameters established by national legislation regarding the treatment of waste before it is released into the environment. This technique will allow the company to select the best option and implement a solution for the processing of waste to minimize environmental damage and the acquisition and implementation costs.

Keywords: decision making, markov chain, optimization, waste water

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Authors: Sathish Kumar Jayaraj

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The study of urban traffic dynamics, underpinned by the principles of fluid dynamics, offers a distinct perspective to comprehend and enhance the efficiency of traffic flow within bustling cityscapes. Leveraging the concept of the Traffic Flow Factor (TFF) as an analog to the Reynolds number, this research delves into the intricate interplay between traffic density, velocity, and road category, drawing compelling parallels to fluid dynamics phenomena. By introducing the notion of Vehicle Shearing Resistance (VSR) as an analogy to dynamic viscosity, the study sheds light on the multifaceted influence of traffic regulations, lane management, and road infrastructure on the smoothness and resilience of traffic flow. The TFF equation serves as a comprehensive metric for quantifying traffic dynamics, enabling the identification of congestion hotspots, the optimization of traffic signal timings, and the formulation of data-driven traffic management strategies. The study underscores the critical significance of integrating fluid dynamics principles into the domain of urban traffic management, fostering sustainable transportation practices, and paving the way for a more seamless and resilient urban mobility ecosystem.

Keywords: traffic flow factor (TFF), urban traffic dynamics, fluid dynamics principles, vehicle shearing resistance (VSR), traffic congestion management, sustainable urban mobility

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Authors: Syakirin O. Yong, Nasrudin A. Rahim, Bilal M. Eid, Buray Tankut

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The aim of this paper is to develop an ultra-fast gate driver for Silicon Carbide (SiC) based switching device applications such as AC/DC DC/AC converters. Wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC switches are growing rapidly nowadays due to their numerous capabilities such as faster switching, higher power density and higher voltage level. Wide band-gap switches can work properly on high frequencies such 50-250 kHz which is very useful for many power electronic applications such as solar inverters. Increasing the frequency minimizes the output filter size and system complexity however, this causes huge spike between MOSFET’s drain and source leg which leads to the failure of MOSFET if the voltage rating is exceeded. This paper investigates and concludes the optimum design for a gate drive board for SiC MOSFET switches without causing spikes and noises.

Keywords: PV system, lithium-ion, charger, constant current, constant voltage, renewable energy

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Authors: Mustapha Aminu Bagiwa, Ainuddin Wahid Abdul Wahab, Mohd Yamani Idna Idris, Suleman Khan

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Video source device identification has become a problem of concern in numerous domains especially in multimedia security and digital investigation. This is because videos are now used as evidence in legal proceedings. Source device identification aim at identifying the source of digital devices using the content they produced. However, due to affordable processing tools and the influx in digital content generating devices, source device identification is still a major problem within the digital forensic community. In this paper, we discuss source device identification for digital videos by identifying techniques that were proposed in the literature for model or specific device identification. This is aimed at identifying salient open challenges for future research.

Keywords: video forgery, source camcorder, device identification, forgery detection

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Authors: Ghoutia Naima Sabri, Tayeb Benouaz

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The interaction between wave and electron cyclotron movement when the electron passes through a layer of resonance at a fixed frequency results an Electron Cyclotron (EC) absorption in Tokamak plasma and dependent magnetic field. This technique is the principle of additional heating (ECRH) and the generation of non-inductive current drive (ECCD) in modern fusion devices. In this paper we are interested by the problem of EC absorption which used a microscopic description of kinetic theory treatment versus the propagation which used the cold plasma description. The power absorbed depends on the optical depth which in turn depends on coefficient of absorption and the order of the excited harmonic for O-mode or X-mode. There is another possibility of heating by dissipation of Alfven waves, based on resonance of cold plasma waves, the shear Alfven wave (SW) and the compressional Alfven wave (FW). Once the (FW) power is coupled to (SW), it stays on the magnetic surface and dissipates there, which cause the heating of bulk plasmas.

Keywords: electron cyclotron, heating, plasma, tokamak

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Authors: Maryam Torabi, Habibi, Abdolahi, Mohammadi, Hassanzadeh, Darban Maghami, Baghi

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Sheeppox Virus (SPPV) and goatpox virus (GTPV) are considerable diseases of sheep, and goats, caused by viruses of the Capripoxvirus (CaPV) genus. They are responsible for economic losses. Animal mortality, morbidity, cost of vaccinations, and restrictions in animal products’ trade are the reasons of economic losses. Control and eradication of CaPV depend on early detection of outbreaks so that molecular detection and genetic analysis could be effective to this aim. This study was undertaken to molecularly characterize SPPV and GTPV strains that have been circulating in Iran. 120 skin papules and nodule biopsies were collected from different regions of Iran and were examined for SPPV, GTPV viruses using TaqMan Real -Time PCR. Some of these amplified genes were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Out of the 120 samples analysed, 98 were positive for CaPV by Real- Time PCR (81.6%), and most of them wereSPPV. then 10 positive samples were sequenced and characterized by amplifying the ORF 103CaPV gene. sequencing and phylogenetic analysis for these positive samples revealed a high percentage of identity with SPPV isolated from different countries in Middle East. In conclusions, molecular characterization revealed nearly complete identity with all recent SPPVs strains in local countries that requires further studies to monitor the virus evolution and transmission pathways to better understand the virus pathobiology that will help for SPPV control.

Keywords: molecular epidemiology, Real-Time PCR, phylogenetic analysis, capripoxviruses

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Authors: Hichem Sassi

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Pneumonia, being a respiratory infection, has garnered global attention due to its rapid transmission and relatively high mortality rates. Timely detection and treatment play a crucial role in significantly reducing mortality associated with pneumonia. Presently, X-ray diagnosis stands out as a reasonably effective method. However, the manual scrutiny of a patient's X-ray chest radiograph by a proficient practitioner usually requires 5 to 15 minutes. In situations where cases are concentrated, this places immense pressure on clinicians for timely diagnosis. Relying solely on the visual acumen of imaging doctors proves to be inefficient, particularly given the low speed of manual analysis. Therefore, the integration of artificial intelligence into the clinical image diagnosis of pneumonia becomes imperative. Additionally, AI recognition is notably rapid, with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) demonstrating superior performance compared to human counterparts in image identification tasks. To conduct our study, we utilized a dataset comprising chest X-ray images obtained from Kaggle, encompassing a total of 5216 training images and 624 test images, categorized into two classes: normal and pneumonia. Employing five mainstream network algorithms, we undertook a comprehensive analysis to classify these diseases within the dataset, subsequently comparing the results. The integration of artificial intelligence, particularly through improved network architectures, stands as a transformative step towards more efficient and accurate clinical diagnoses across various medical domains.

Keywords: deep learning, computer vision, pneumonia, models, comparative study

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Authors: Sahabeh Safarpour, Khiruddin Abdullah, Hwee San Lim, Mohsen Dadras

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Air pollution is a growing problem arising from domestic heating, high density of vehicle traffic, electricity production, and expanding commercial and industrial activities, all increasing in parallel with urban population. Monitoring and forecasting of air quality parameters are important due to health impact. One widely available metric of aerosol abundance is the aerosol optical depth (AOD). The AOD is the integrated light extinction coefficient over a vertical atmospheric column of unit cross section, which represents the extent to which the aerosols in that vertical profile prevent the transmission of light by absorption or scattering. Seasonal aerosol optical depth (AOD) values at 550 nm derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA’s Terra satellites, for the 10 years period of 2000-2010 were used to test 7 different spatial interpolation methods in the present study. The accuracy of estimations was assessed through visual analysis as well as independent validation based on basic statistics, such as root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient. Based on the RMSE and R values of predictions made using measured values from 2000 to 2010, Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) yielded the best results for spring, summer, and winter and ordinary kriging yielded the best results for fall.

Keywords: aerosol optical depth, MODIS, spatial interpolation techniques, Radial Basis Functions

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Authors: Umberto Cerasani, Luca Cerasani

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Methods for earthquakes forecasting have been intensively investigated in the last decades, but there is still no universal solution agreed by seismologists. Rock failure is most often preceded by a tiny elastic movement in the failure area and by the appearance of micro-cracks. These micro-cracks could be detected at the soil surface and represent useful earth-quakes precursors. The aim of this study was to verify whether tiny raw acceleration signals (in the 10⁻¹ to 10⁻⁴ cm/s² range) prior to the arrival of main primary-waves could be exploitable and related to earthquakes magnitude. Mathematical tools such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), moving average and wavelets have been applied on raw acceleration data available on the ITACA web site, and the study focused on one of the most unpredictable earth-quakes, i.e., the August 24th, 2016 at 01H36 one that occurred in the central Italy area. It appeared that these tiny acceleration signals preceding main P-waves have different patterns both on frequency and time domains for high magnitude earthquakes compared to lower ones.

Keywords: earthquake, accelerometer, earthquake forecasting, seism

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Authors: Leena Wanganoo

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In this digital age with the mushrooming of online companies across the globe has led to an unprecedented new business model. The frequency of online purchasing varies across the globe, but trend shows a steep upward movement. From Generation X to the Millennial the consumer not only wants to order the product with the click of mouse but also very demanding service quality during pre to post-transaction stage. The existing research examines the impact of website quality on the on behavioral intentions in e-services customers and has not adequately recognized the quality of e-commerce logistics perceived by the customer.In order to address this gap, this study examines the relationship among the logistics service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty. Drawing upon a sample of 350 millennial customers from various regions of UAE will work within the framework of structural equation modeling (SEM). Finally, the study would use Importance-Performance analysis (IPA) to discuss the relations of the level of customers’ expected logistics service quality and level of customers’ perceived logistics serviced quality.

Keywords: logistics service quality, customer satisfaction, loyalty, electronic commerce

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Authors: Atefeh Esmailnejad, Mohammad Abbaszadeh Hasiri

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Coxiella burnetii is a gram-negative obligatory intracellular bacterium that causes Q fever, a significant zoonotic disease. Sheep, cattle, and goats are the most commonly reported reservoirs for the bacteria, but infected cats and dogs have also been implicated in the transmission of the disease to human. The aim of present study was to investigate the presence of antibodies against Coxiella burnetii among companion dogs in Fars province, South of Iran. A total of 181 blood samples were collected from asymptomatic dogs, mostly referred to Veterinary Hospital of Shiraz University for regular vaccination. The IgG antibody detection against Coxiella burnetii was made by indirect Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), employing phase I and II Coxiella burnetii antigens. A logistic regression model was developed to analyze multiple risk factors associated with seropositivity. An overall seropositivity of 7.7% (n=14) was observed. Prevalence was significantly higher in adult dogs above five years (18.18 %) compared with dogs between 1 and five years (7.86 %) and less than one year (6.17%) (P=0.043). Prevalence was also higher in male dogs (11.21 %) than in female (2.7 %) (P=0.035). There were no significant differences in the prevalence of positive cases and breed, type of housing, type of food and exposure to other farm animals (P>0.05). The results of this study showed the presence of Coxiella burnetii infection among the companion dogs population in Fars province. To our knowledge, this is the first study regarding Q fever in dogs carried out in Iran. In areas like Iran, where human cases of Q fever are not common or remain unreported, the public health implications of Q fever seroprevalence in dogs are quite significant.

Keywords: Coxiella burnetii, dog, Iran, Q fever

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Authors: Takashi Sakai, Itaru Kumisawa

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Because die drawing requires insertion of a die, a plug, or a mandrel, higher precision and efficiency are demanded for drawing equipment for a tube having smaller diameter. Manufacturing of such tubes is also accompanied by problems such as cracking and fracture. We specifically examine dieless drawing, which is less affected by these drawing-related difficulties. This deformation process is governed by a similar principle to that of reduction in diameter when pulling a heated glass tube. We conducted dieless drawing of SUS304 stainless steel microtubes under various conditions with three factor parameters of heating temperature, area reduction, and drawing speed. We used SEM-EBSD to observe the processing condition effects on microstructural elements. As the result of this study, crystallographic orientation of microtube is clear by using SEM-EBSD analysis.

Keywords: microtube, dieless drawing, IPF (inverse pole figure), GOS (grain orientation spread), crystallographic analysis

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Authors: K. A. El-Battawy, W. S. El-Nattat

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The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the impact of methionine on the preservation, acrosomal integrity, DNA integrity and post thawing motility of extended goat semen. Semen samples were diluted with a Tris-based extender containing the additive methionine 1.5, 2.5 and 5mM then the diluted samples were kept in glass tubes and cooled from 37°C to 5°C in a cold cabinet, and maintained at 5°C. Sperm motility (SM%), alive sperm (AS%), sperm abnormalities (SA%) acrosomal integrity and DNA integrity were determined at 5°C for periods of 0,24, 48and 72 h of liquid storage. Furthermore, the influence of methionine on post-thawing motility was assessed. The results elaborated that the addition of methionine and L-tyrosine particularly 2.5mM of methionine significantly improved SM% and reduced dead sperm %. Furthermore, the addition of 2.5mM methionine improved post-thawing motility (43.75 ± 1.25% vs. 32.50 ± 3.23 in the control group). Moreover, the frequency of acrosomal defects was lower in treated groups than in control. In conclusion, the addition of methionine induced remarkable physiological effects on goat semen quality during conservation for 7-days-long period at 5°C and improved its freezability.

Keywords: methionine, acrosome, semen, cryopreservation

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Authors: Chun-Wei Liu, Feng-Tsai Weng

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People faced pollution threaten in modern age although the standard of exhaust gas of vehicles has been established. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of water atomizer in a vehicle emission system. Diluted 20% ammonia water was used in spraying system. Micro particles produced by exhausted gas from engine of vehicle which were cumulated through atomized spray in a self-development collector. In experiments, a self-designed atomization model plate and a gas tank controlled by the micro-processor using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) logic was prepared for exhaust test. The gas from gasoline-engine of vehicle was purified with the model panel collector. A soft well named ANSYS was utilized for analyzing the distribution condition of rejected gas. Micro substance and percentage of CO, HC, CO2, NOx in exhausted gas were investigated at different engine speed, and atomizer vibration frequency. Exceptional results in the vehicle engine emissions measurement were obtained. The temperature of exhausted gas can be decreased 3oC. Micro substances PM10 can be decreased and the percentage of CO can be decreased more than 55% at 2500RPM by proposed system. Value of CO, HC, CO2 and NOX was all decreased when atomizers were used with water.

Keywords: atomizer, CO, HC, NOx, PM2.5

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Authors: A. Shooshtari, A. R. Masoodi, S. Heyrani Moghaddam

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Free vibration analysis of a gabled frame with elastic support and semi-rigid connections is performed by using a program in OpenSees software. Natural frequencies and mode shape details of frame are obtained for two states, which are semi-rigid connections and elastic supports, separately. The members of this structure are analyzed as a prismatic nonlinear beam-column element in software. The mass of structure is considered as two equal lumped masses at the head of two columns in horizontal and vertical directions. Note that the degree of freedom, allocated to all nodes, is equal to three. Furthermore, the mode shapes of frame are achieved. Conclusively, the effects of connections and supports flexibility on the natural frequencies and mode shapes of structure are investigated.

Keywords: natural frequency, mode shape, gabled frame, semi-rigid connection, elastic support, OpenSees software

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