Search results for: Arif Uzair Bin Mohammed Roslan
512 Performance Evaluation of Hierarchical Location-Based Services Coupled to the Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Rania Khadim, Mohammed Erritali, Abdelhakim Maaden
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Nowadays Wireless Sensor Networks have attracted worldwide research and industrial interest, because they can be applied in various areas. Geographic routing protocols are very suitable to those networks because they use location information when they need to route packets. Obviously, location information is maintained by Location-Based Services provided by network nodes in a distributed way. In this paper we choose to evaluate the performance of two hierarchical rendezvous location based-services, GLS (Grid Location Service) and HLS (Hierarchical Location Service) coupled to the GPSR routing protocol (Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing) for Wireless Sensor Network. The simulations were performed using NS2 simulator to evaluate the performance and power of the two services in term of location overhead, the request travel time (RTT) and the query Success ratio (QSR). This work presents also a new scalability performance study of both GLS and HLS, specifically, what happens if the number of nodes N increases. The study will focus on three qualitative metrics: The location maintenance cost, the location query cost and the storage cost.Keywords: location based-services, routing protocols, scalability, wireless sensor networks
Procedia PDF Downloads 372511 GIS-Based Automatic Flight Planning of Camera-Equipped UAVs for Fire Emergency Response
Authors: Mohammed Sulaiman, Hexu Liu, Mohamed Binalhaj, William W. Liou, Osama Abudayyeh
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Emerging technologies such as camera-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being applied in building fire rescue to provide real-time visualization and 3D reconstruction of the entire fireground. However, flight planning of camera-equipped UAVs is usually a manual process, which is not sufficient to fulfill the needs of emergency management. This research proposes a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach to automatic flight planning of camera-equipped UAVs for building fire emergency response. In this research, Haversine formula and lawn mowing patterns are employed to automate flight planning based on geometrical and spatial information from GIS. The resulting flight mission satisfies the requirements of 3D reconstruction purposes of the fireground, in consideration of flight execution safety and visibility of camera frames. The proposed approach is implemented within a GIS environment through an application programming interface. A case study is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The result shows that flight mission can be generated in a timely manner for application to fire emergency response.Keywords: GIS, camera-equipped UAVs, automatic flight planning, fire emergency response
Procedia PDF Downloads 125510 Green Intellectual Capital and Green Supply Chain Performance
Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim Bu Haya, Abdelmoneim Bahyeldin Mohamed Metwally
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This paper examines the impact of Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) on Green Supply Chain Performance (GSCP). Further, the study examines the moderating role of external pressures (EP) on the relationship between GIC and GSCP. Data were collected from employees working in Egyptian hotels and tourism companies (N= 366). The collected data were analyzed using smart partial least squares (Smart-PLS) software. The current research indicated that there is a positive and significant impact of all GIC components on GSCP. The results also revealed that EP were found to moderate the relationship between GIC and GSCP. The study model was able to explain 63.1% of the variance in GSCP. The findings of this study serve as a pivotal yardstick for guiding corporate policy formulation, offering valuable insights to drive continuous improvements in supply chain management and performance. Furthermore, the research holds substantial implications for managerial strategies by shedding light on the potential of GIC and EP to elevate GSCP. Positioned as one of the initial studies to delve into the moderating role of EP in the relationship between GIC and GSCP, this research offers insights within an emerging market context.Keywords: green intellectual capital, green supply chain, supply chain performance, external pressures, emerging economy, Egypt
Procedia PDF Downloads 56509 The Role of Social Media in the Rise of Islamic State in India: An Analytical Overview
Authors: Yasmeen Cheema, Parvinder Singh
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The evolution of Islamic State (acronym IS) has an ultimate goal of restoring the caliphate. IS threat to the global security is main concern of international community but has also raised a factual concern for India about the regular radicalization of IS ideology among Indian youth. The incident of joining Arif Ejaz Majeed, an Indian as ‘jihadist’ in IS has set strident alarm in law & enforcement agencies. On 07.03.2017, many people were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on-board of Bhopal Ujjain Express. One perpetrator of this incident was killed in encounter with police. But, the biggest shock is that the conspiracy was pre-planned and the assailants who carried out the blast were influenced by the ideology perpetrated by the Islamic State. This is the first time name of IS has cropped up in a terror attack in India. It is a red indicator of violent presence of IS in India, which is spreading through social media. The IS have the capacity to influence the younger Muslim generation in India through its brutal and aggressive propaganda videos, social media apps and hatred speeches. It is a well known fact that India is on the radar of IS, as well on its ‘Caliphate Map’. IS uses Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms constantly. Islamic State has used enticing videos, graphics, and articles on social media and try to influence persons from India & globally that their jihad is worthy. According to arrested perpetrator of IS in different cases in India, the most of Indian youths are victims to the daydreams which are fondly shown by IS. The dreams that the Muslim empire as it was before 1920 can come back with all its power and also that the Caliph and its caliphate can be re-established are shown by the IS. Indian Muslim Youth gets attracted towards these euphemistic ideologies. Islamic State has used social media for disseminating its poisonous ideology, recruitment, operational activities and for future direction of attacks. IS through social media inspired its recruits & lone wolfs to continue to rely on local networks to identify targets and access weaponry and explosives. Recently, a pro-IS media group on its Telegram platform shows Taj Mahal as the target and suggested mode of attack as a Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Attack (VBIED). Islamic State definitely has the potential to destroy the Indian national security & peace, if timely steps are not taken. No doubt, IS has used social media as a critical mechanism for recruitment, planning and executing of terror attacks. This paper will therefore examine the specific characteristics of social media that have made it such a successful weapon for Islamic State. The rise of IS in India should be viewed as a national crisis and handled at the central level with efficient use of modern technology.Keywords: ideology, India, Islamic State, national security, recruitment, social media, terror attack
Procedia PDF Downloads 230508 Implementing Community Policing in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects
Authors: Mohammed Jamilu Haruna, Kawu Adamu Sule
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This paper examines the evolution of modern policing in Nigeria to the present day, with a focus on the newly introduced community policing, which seeks to cement the operational vacuum created by the repressive and oppressive approach of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which renders the police incapable of addressing the twin problems of crime and disorder. Thus, the primary purpose for the implementation of community policing was to use it as a mechanism for building the lost trust between the police and the public, perhaps due to the long history of antagonistic and repressive relationships between them. If properly implemented, community policing has the prospect of empowering Nigerian citizens with the skills to protect themselves against invaders of their private security so that crimes can be prevented before anyone is victimized. Other prospects include, but are not limited to, (i) a favorable public view of the police, (ii) building of mutual trust, (iii) increased information flow through effective communication between the police and the public, and above all, (iv) increased police accountability. Unfortunately, problems such as aged suspicious and distrustful relationships, inadequate funding, poor training of officers, poor monitoring and evaluation of the community policing project, lack of public awareness of the benefits of the program, and sabotage by some of the personnel of the police who benefits from the status quo, were some of the reasons that troubled the implementation of community policing.Keywords: community, policing, problems, prospects, problem solving
Procedia PDF Downloads 76507 Assessing the Effect of Freezing and Thawing of Coverzone of Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag Concrete
Authors: Abdulkarim Mohammed Iliyasu, Mahmud Abba Tahir
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Freezing and thawing are considered to be one of the major causes of concrete deterioration in the cold regions. This study aimed at assessing the freezing and thawing of concrete within the cover zone by monitoring the formation of ice and melting at different temperatures using electrical measurement technique. A multi-electrode array system was used to obtain the resistivity of ice formation and melting at discrete depths within the cover zone of the concrete. A total number of four concrete specimens (250 mm x 250 mm x 150 mm) made of ordinary Portland cement concrete and ordinary Portland cement replaced by 65% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) is investigated. Water/binder ratios of 0.35 and 0.65 were produced and ponded with water to ensure full saturation and then subjected to freezing and thawing process in a refrigerator within a temperature range of -30 0C and 20 0C over a period of time 24 hours. The data were collected and analysed. The obtained results show that the addition of GGBS changed the pore structure of the concrete which resulted in the decrease in conductance. It was recommended among others that, the surface of the concrete structure should be protected as this will help to prevent the instantaneous propagation of ice trough the rebar and to avoid corrosion and subsequent damage.Keywords: concrete, conductance, deterioration, freezing and thawing
Procedia PDF Downloads 417506 Effect of Bored Pile Diameter in Sand on Friction Resistance
Authors: Ashraf Mohammed M. Eid, Hossam El Badry
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The bored pile friction resistance may be affected by many factors such as the method of construction, pile length and diameter, the soil properties, as well as the depth below ground level. These factors can be represented analytically to study the influence of diameter on the unit skin friction. In this research, the Egyptian Code of soil mechanics is used to assess the skin friction capacity for either the ordinary pile diameter as well as for the large pile diameter. The later is presented in the code and through the work of some researchers based on the results of investigations adopted for a sufficient number of field tests. The comparative results of these researchers with respect to the Egyptian Code are used to check the adequacy of both methods. Based on the results of this study, the traditional static formula adopted for piles of diameter less than 60 cm may be continually used for larger piles by correlating the analyzed formulae. Accordingly, the corresponding modified angle of internal friction is concluded demonstrating a reduction of shear strength due to soil disturbance along the pile shaft. Based on this research the difference between driven piles and bored piles constructed in same soil can be assessed and a better understanding can be evaluated for the effect of different factors on pile skin friction capacity.Keywords: large piles, static formula, friction piles, sandy soils
Procedia PDF Downloads 500505 Enhancing the Structural, Optical, and Dielectric Properties of the Polymer Nanocomposites Based on Polymer Blend and Gold Nanoparticles for Application in Energy Storage
Authors: Mohammed Omar
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Using Chenopodium murale leaf, gold nanoparticles (Au NP's) were biosynthesized effectively in an amicable strategy. The casting process was used to create composite layers of sodium alginate and polyvinyl pyrrolidone. Gold nanoparticles were incorporated into the polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)/ sodium alginate (NaAlg) polymer blend by casting technique. Before and after exposure to different doses of gamma irradiation (2, 4, 6 Mrad), thin films of synthesized nanocomposites were analyzed. XRD revealed the amorphous nature of polymer blends (PVP/ NaAlg), which decreased by both Au NP's embedding and consecutive doses of irradiation. FT-IR spectra revealed interactions and differences within the functional groups of their respective pristine components and dopant nano-fillers. The optical properties of PVP/NaAlg – Au NP thin films (refractive index n, energy gap Eg, Urbach energy Eu) were examined before and after the irradiation procedure. Transmission electron micrographs (TEM) demonstrated a decrease in the size of Au NP’s and narrow size distribution as the gamma irradiation dose was increased. Gamma irradiation was found to influence the electrical conductivity of synthesized composite films, as well as dielectric permittivity (ɛ′) and dielectric losses (ε″).Keywords: PVP, SPR, γ-radiations, XRD
Procedia PDF Downloads 104504 Domain Driven Design vs Soft Domain Driven Design Frameworks
Authors: Mohammed Salahat, Steve Wade
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This paper presents and compares the SSDDD “Systematic Soft Domain Driven Design Framework” to DDD “Domain Driven Design Framework” as a soft system approach of information systems development. The framework use SSM as a guiding methodology within which we have embedded a sequence of design tasks based on the UML leading to the implementation of a software system using the Naked Objects framework. This framework has been used in action research projects that have involved the investigation and modelling of business processes using object-oriented domain models and the implementation of software systems based on those domain models. Within this framework, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is used as a guiding methodology to explore the problem situation and to develop the domain model using UML for the given business domain. The framework is proposed and evaluated in our previous works, a comparison between SSDDD and DDD is presented in this paper, to show how SSDDD improved DDD as an approach to modelling and implementing business domain perspectives for Information Systems Development. The comparison process, the results, and the improvements are presented in the following sections of this paper.Keywords: domain-driven design, soft domain-driven design, naked objects, soft language
Procedia PDF Downloads 298503 Impact of Mass Rape on HIV Incidence and Prevalence in Conflict Situations: Mathematical Analysis of the War in Tigray, Ethiopia
Authors: Abdelkadir Muzey Mohammed, Habtu Alemayehu Atsbaha, Yohannes Yirga Kefela, Woldegebriel Assefa Woldegerima, Kiros Tedla Gebrehiwot
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The circumstances of war and conflict have long been associated with concerns about heightening HIV infection due to the use of sexual violence and rape as a weapon of war and lack of health services access to the patients with HIV as well as sexual violence and rape victims. This paper examines the impact of war related mass rape on HIV incidence and prevalence in the war ravaged Tigray, Ethiopia. Risk equation model and uncertainty analyses with sampled ranges of parameters were employed using data from WHO, Ethiopian Public Health Institute and Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency was used. Our analysis indicated that the mass rape committed in Tigray could cause an increase of incidence and prevalence by a median of 63.01% and 1.14% respectively. The significant increase in HIV incidence and prevalence due to mass rape demands a special attention including region wide improved surveillance and tracing of rape survivors. Furthermore, HIV prevention and treatment strategies such as delivery of emergency health service, providing pre and post exposure treatments on the basis of human rights should priority of governmental and nongovernmental organizations in a conflict situation.Keywords: conflict situation, mass rape, HIV, mathematical model, uncertainty analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 11502 Economics of Household Expenditure Pattern on Animal Products in Bauchi Metropolis, Bauchi State, Nigeria
Authors: B. Hamidu, A. Abdulhamid, S. Mohammed, S. Idi
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This study examined the household expenditure pattern on animal products in Bauchi metropolis. A cross-sectional data were collected from 157 households using systematic sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression models. The results reveal that the mean age, mean household size, mean monthly income and mean total expenditure on animal products were found to be 39 years, 7 persons, N28,749 and N1,740 respectively. It was also found that household monthly income, number of children and educational level of the household heads (P<0.01) significantly influence the level of household expenditure on animal products. Similarly, income was found to be the most important factor determining the proportion of total expenditure on animal products (20.91%). Income elasticity was found to be 0.66 indicating that for every 1% increase in income, expenditure on animal products would increase by 0.66%. Furthermore, beef was found to be the most preferred (54.83%) and most regularly consumed (61.84%) animal products. However, it was discovered that the major constraints affecting the consumption of animal products were low-income level of the households (29.85%), high cost of animal products (15.82%) and increase in prices of necessities (15.82%). Therefore to improve household expenditure on animal products per capita real income of the households should be improved through creation of employment opportunities. Also stabilization of market prices of animal products and other foods items of necessities through increased production are recommended.Keywords: animal products, economics, expenditure, households
Procedia PDF Downloads 245501 Interaction of Non-Gray-Gas Radiation with Opposed Mixed Convection in a Lid-Driven Square Cavity
Authors: Mohammed Cherifi, Abderrahmane Benbrik, Siham Laouar-Meftah, Denis Lemonnier
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The present study was conducted to numerically investigate the interaction of non-gray-gas radiation with opposed mixed convection in a vertical two-sided lid-driven square cavity. The opposing flows are simultaneously generated by the vertical boundary walls which slide at a constant speed and the natural convection due to the gradient temperature of differentially heated cavity. The horizontal walls are thermally insulated and perfectly reflective. The enclosure is filled with air-H2O-CO2 gas mixture, which is considered as a non-gray, absorbing, emitting and not scattering medium. The governing differential equations are solved by a finite-volume method, by adopting the SIMPLER algorithm for pressure–velocity coupling. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) is solved by the discrete ordinates method (DOM). The spectral line weighted sum of gray gases model (SLW) is used to account for non-gray radiation properties. Three cases of the effects of radiation (transparent, gray and non-gray medium) are studied. Comparison is also made with the parametric studies of the effect of the mixed convection parameter, Ri (0.1, 1, 10), on the fluid flow and heat transfer have been performed.Keywords: opposed mixed convection, non-gray-gas radiation, two-sided lid-driven cavity, discrete ordinate method, SLW model
Procedia PDF Downloads 319500 Sustainable Development: Evaluation of an Urban Neighborhood
Authors: Harith Mohammed Benbouali
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The concept of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important in our society. The efforts of specialized agencies, cleverly portrayed in the media, allow a widespread environmental awareness. Far from the old environmental movement in the backward-looking nostalgia, the environment is combined with today's progress. Many areas now include these concerns in their efforts, this in order to try to reduce the negative impact of human activities on the environment. The quantitative dimension of development has given way to the quality aspect. However, this feature is not common, and the initial target was abandoned in favor of economic considerations. Specialists in the field of building and construction have constantly sought to further integrate the environmental dimension, creating a seal of high environmental quality buildings. The pursuit of well-being of neighborhood residents and the quality of buildings are also a hot topic in planning. Quality of life is considered so on, since financial concerns dominate to the detriment of the environment and the welfare of the occupants. This work concerns the development of an analytical method based on multiple indicators of objectives across the district. The quantification of indicators related to objectives allows the construction professional, the developer or the community, to quantify and compare different alternatives for development of a neighborhood. This quantification is based on the use of simulation tools and a multi-criteria aggregation.Keywords: sustainable development, environment, district, indicators, multi-criteria analysis, evaluation
Procedia PDF Downloads 312499 Applications Using Geographic Information System for Planning and Development of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Living for Smart-Cities
Authors: Javed Mohammed
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As urbanization process has been and will be happening in an unprecedented scale worldwide, strong requirements from academic research and practical fields for smart management and intelligent planning of cities are pressing to handle increasing demands of infrastructure and potential risks of inhabitants agglomeration in disaster management. Geo-spatial data and Geographic Information System (GIS) are essential components for building smart cities in a basic way that maps the physical world into virtual environment as a referencing framework. On higher level, GIS has been becoming very important in smart cities on different sectors. In the digital city era, digital maps and geospatial databases have long been integrated in workflows in land management, urban planning and transportation in government. People have anticipated GIS to be more powerful not only as an archival and data management tool but also as spatial models for supporting decision-making in intelligent cities. The purpose of this project is to offer observations and analysis based on a detailed discussion of Geographic Information Systems( GIS) driven Framework towards the development of Smart and Sustainable Cities through high penetration of Renewable Energy Technologies.Keywords: digital maps, geo-spatial, geographic information system, smart cities, renewable energy, urban planning
Procedia PDF Downloads 526498 Decode and Forward Cooperative Protocol Enhancement Using Interference Cancellation
Authors: Siddeeq Y. Ameen, Mohammed K. Yousif
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Cooperative communication systems are considered to be a promising technology to improve the system capacity, reliability and performances over fading wireless channels. Cooperative relaying system with a single antenna will be able to reach the advantages of multiple antenna communication systems. It is ideally suitable for the distributed communication systems; the relays can cooperate and form virtual MIMO systems. Thus the paper will aim to investigate the possible enhancement of cooperated system using decode and forward protocol. On decode and forward an attempt to cancel or at least reduce the interference instead of increasing the SNR values is achieved. The latter can be achieved via the use group of relays depending on the channel status from source to relay and relay to destination respectively. In the proposed system, the transmission time has been divided into two phases to be used by decode and forward protocol. The first phase has been allocated for the source to transmit its data whereas the relays and destination nodes are in receiving mode. On the other hand, the second phase is allocated for the first and second groups of relay nodes to relay the data to the destination node. Simulations results have shown an improvement in performance is achieved compared to the conventional decode and forward in terms of BER and transmission rate.Keywords: cooperative systems, decode and forward, interference cancellation, virtual MIMO
Procedia PDF Downloads 323497 Performance Improvement of SBR Polymer Concrete Used in Construction of Rigid Pavement Highway
Authors: Mohammed Abbas Al-Jumaili
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There are some studies which have been conducted in resent years to investigate the possibility of producing high performance polymer concrete. However, despite the great important of this subject, very limited amount of literature is available about the strength and performance of this type of concrete in case using in rigid pavement highway. In this study, the possibility of producing high performance polymer concrete by using Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) emulsion with various (SBR) percents of 5,10 ,15, and 20 % by weight of cement has been investigated. The compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths and dynamic modulus of elasticity tests were conducted after age of 7 and 28 days for control without polymer and SBR concretes. A total of (30) cubes, (30) cylinders and (30) prisms were prepared using different types of concrete mixes. The AASHTO guide-1993 method was used to determine slab concrete thickness of rigid pavement highway in case of using various SBR polymer concrete mixture types. The research results indicate that the use of 10% SBR by weight of cement leads to produce high performance concrete especially with regard to mechanical properties and structural relative to corresponding control concrete.Keywords: rigid pavement highway, styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) latex, compressive test, splitting tensile test, flexural test and dynamic modulus of elasticity test
Procedia PDF Downloads 324496 Reclaimed Tire and Carbon Black Mixture Effect on Mechanical Properties of Rubber Blends SBR/NR/BRcis Uses as Damping Materials
Authors: Samir Hassan AL-Nesrawy, Mohammed Al-Maamori, A. S. Hassani
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Rebound resilience for various elastomeric composites has been measured by Tripsometer devise, in order to investigate the effect of mix of C.B & Reclaim loading on elastomeric materials to absorb or damping vibration or shocks by fenders uses in the Iraqi berths. After having been certain about attaining the physical and mechanical properties of the new samples which are similar to the levels of their standard ones, damping properties for the new samples have been measured and compared with those of the standard fenders. The new samples included four rubber blends from (SBR/NR/BR-cis) and four loading levels of mix carbon black (type N-375) and reclaim to become sixteen compound contain SBR(100,60,60,60), NR(0,10,20,30), BRcis(30,20,10,0) and loading level for C.B, Reclaim (10,20,30,40). Damping measurements have been carried out by the method Free Vibration Resilience Pendulum method (by using Wallace R2-Dunlop Tripsometer) and from this Resilience Pendulum method, both the resilience percentage value (R%) and time decay (t0) have been measured at 50oC. We found that the results of this method proved that the increment of C.B, Reclaim level in these robber composite lead to decreasing the resiliency (R%) and damping time.Keywords: damping materials, carbon black mixture effect, mechanical properties, rubber blends SBR/NR/BRcis
Procedia PDF Downloads 452495 A Novel Multi-Objective Park and Ride Control Scheme Using Renewable Energy Sources: Cairo Case Study
Authors: Mohammed Elsayed Lotfy Elsayed Abouzeid, Tomonobu Senjyu
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A novel multi-objective park and ride control approach is presented in this research. Park and ride will encourage the owners of the vehicles to leave their cars in the nearest points (on the edges of the crowded cities) and use public transportation facilities (train, bus, metro, or mon-rail) to reach their work inside the crowded city. The proposed control scheme is used to design electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) to charge 1000 electric vehicles (EV) during their owners' work time. Cairo, Egypt is used as a case study. Photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) are used to meet the EVCS demand. Two multi-objective optimization techniques (MOGA and epsilon-MOGA) are utilized to get the optimal sizes of PV and BESS so as to meet the load demand and minimize the total life cycle cost. Detailed analysis and comparison are held to investigate the performance of the proposed control scheme using MATLAB.Keywords: Battery Energy Storage System, Electric Vehicle, Park and Ride, Photovoltaic, Multi-objective
Procedia PDF Downloads 144494 Investigations on the Cytotoxicity and Antimicrobial Activities of Terezine E and 14-Hydroxyterezine D
Authors: Mariam Mojally, Randa Abdou, Wisal Bokhari, Sultan Sab, Mohammed Dawoud, Amjad Albohy
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Secondary metabolites produced by endophytes are an excellent source of biologically active compounds. In our current study, we evaluated terezine E and 14-hydroxyterezine D for binding to the active site of histone deacetylase (PDB ID: 4CBT) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (PDB ID: 4H3X) by molecular docking using AutoDock Vina software after having tested their cytotoxic activities on three cell lines (human ductal breast epithelial tumor cells (T47D)-HCC1937), human hepatocarcinoma cell line (HepG2)-HB8065), and human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116)-TCP1006, purchased from ATCC, USA)). Additionally, their antimicrobial activities were investigated, and their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined against P. notatum and S. aureus by the broth microdilution method. Higher cytotoxicity was observed for terezine E against all tested cell lines compared to 14-hydroxyterezine D. Molecular docking results supported the high cytotoxicity of terezine E and showed higher binding affinity with 4CBT with an energy score of 9 kcal/mol. Terezine E showed higher antibacterial and antifungal activities than 14-hydroxyrerezine D: MIC values were 15.45 and 21.73 mg/mL against S. aureus and 8.61 and 11.54 mg/mL against P. notatum, respectivelyKeywords: Terezine E, 14-Hydroxyterezine D, cytotoxicity, antimicrobial activity, molecular docking
Procedia PDF Downloads 73493 MGAUM—Towards a Mobile Government Adoption and Utilization Model: The Case of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mohammed Alonazi, Natalia Beloff, Martin White
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This paper presents a proposal for a mobile government adoption and utilization model (MGAUM), which is a framework designed to increase the adoption rate of m-government services in Saudi Arabia. Recent advances in mobile technologies such are Mobile compatibilities, The development of wireless communication, mobile applications and devices are enabling governments to deliver services in new ways to citizens more efficiently and economically. In the last decade, many governments around the globe are utilizing these advances effectively to develop their next generation of e-government services. However, a low adoption rate of m-government services by citizens is a common problem in Arabian countries, including Saudi Arabia. Yet, to our knowledge, very little research has been conducted focused on understanding the factors that influence citizen adoption of these m-government services in this part of the world. A set of social, cultural and technological factors have been identified in the literature, which has led to the formulation of associated research questions and hypotheses. These hypotheses will be tested on Saudi citizens using questionnaires and interview methods based around the technology acceptance model. A key objective of the MGAUM framework is to investigate and understand Saudi citizens perception towards adoption and utilization of m-government services.Keywords: e-government, m-government, citizen services quality, technology acceptance model, Saudi Arabia, adoption framework.
Procedia PDF Downloads 311492 Improvement of Soft Clay Using Floating Cement Dust-Lime Columns
Authors: Adel Belal, Sameh Aboelsoud, Mohy Elmashad, Mohammed Abdelmonem
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The two main criteria that control the design and performance of footings are bearing capacity and settlement of soil. In soft soils, the construction of buildings, storage tanks, warehouse, etc. on weak soils usually involves excessive settlement problems. To solve bearing capacity or reduce settlement problems, soil improvement may be considered by using different techniques, including encased cement dust–lime columns. The proposed research studies the effect of adding floating encased cement dust and lime mix columns to soft clay on the clay-bearing capacity. Four experimental tests were carried out. Columns diameters of 3.0 cm, 4.0 cm, and 5.0 cm and columns length of 60% of the clay layer thickness were used. Numerical model was constructed and verified using commercial finite element package (PLAXIS 2D, V8.5). The verified model was used to study the effect of distributing columns around the footing at different distances. The study showed that the floating cement dust lime columns enhanced the clay-bearing capacity with 262%. The numerical model showed that the columns around the footing have a limit effect on the clay improvement.Keywords: bearing capacity, cement dust – lime columns, ground improvement, soft clay
Procedia PDF Downloads 201491 Adaptive Swarm Balancing Algorithms for Rare-Event Prediction in Imbalanced Healthcare Data
Authors: Jinyan Li, Simon Fong, Raymond Wong, Mohammed Sabah, Fiaidhi Jinan
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Clinical data analysis and forecasting have make great contributions to disease control, prevention and detection. However, such data usually suffer from highly unbalanced samples in class distributions. In this paper, we target at the binary imbalanced dataset, where the positive samples take up only the minority. We investigate two different meta-heuristic algorithms, particle swarm optimization and bat-inspired algorithm, and combine both of them with the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) for processing the datasets. One approach is to process the full dataset as a whole. The other is to split up the dataset and adaptively process it one segment at a time. The experimental results reveal that while the performance improvements obtained by the former methods are not scalable to larger data scales, the later one, which we call Adaptive Swarm Balancing Algorithms, leads to significant efficiency and effectiveness improvements on large datasets. We also find it more consistent with the practice of the typical large imbalanced medical datasets. We further use the meta-heuristic algorithms to optimize two key parameters of SMOTE. Leading to more credible performances of the classifier, and shortening the running time compared with the brute-force method.Keywords: Imbalanced dataset, meta-heuristic algorithm, SMOTE, big data
Procedia PDF Downloads 441490 A Comprehensive Review of Foam Assisted Water Alternating Gas (FAWAG) Technique: Foam Applications and Mechanisms
Authors: A. Shabib-Asl, M. Abdalla Ayoub Mohammed, A. F. Alta’ee, I. Bin Mohd Saaid, P. Paulo Jose Valentim
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In the last few decades, much focus has been placed on enhancing oil recovery from existing fields. This is accomplished by the study and application of various methods. As for recent cases, the study of fluid mobility control and sweep efficiency in gas injection process as well as water alternating gas (WAG) method have demonstrated positive results on oil recovery and thus gained wide interest in petroleum industry. WAG injection application results in an increased oil recovery. Its mechanism consists in reduction of gas oil ratio (GOR). However, there are some problems associated with this which includes poor volumetric sweep efficiency due to its low density and high mobility when compared with oil. This has led to the introduction of foam assisted water alternating gas (FAWAG) technique, which in contrast with WAG injection, acts in improving the sweep efficiency and reducing the gas oil ration therefore maximizing the production rate from the producer wells. This paper presents a comprehensive review of FAWAG process from perspective of Snorre field experience. In addition, some comparative results between FAWAG and the other EOR methods are presented including their setbacks. The main aim is to provide a solid background for future laboratory research and successful field application-extend.Keywords: GOR, mobility ratio, sweep efficiency, WAG
Procedia PDF Downloads 453489 A Study of Population Growth Models and Future Population of India
Authors: Sheena K. J., Jyoti Badge, Sayed Mohammed Zeeshan
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A Comparative Study of Exponential and Logistic Population Growth Models in India India is the second most populous city in the world, just behind China, and is going to be in the first place by next year. The Indian population has remarkably at higher rate than the other countries from the past 20 years. There were many scientists and demographers who has formulated various models of population growth in order to study and predict the future population. Some of the models are Fibonacci population growth model, Exponential growth model, Logistic growth model, Lotka-Volterra model, etc. These models have been effective in the past to an extent in predicting the population. However, it is essential to have a detailed comparative study between the population models to come out with a more accurate one. Having said that, this research study helps to analyze and compare the two population models under consideration - exponential and logistic growth models, thereby identifying the most effective one. Using the census data of 2011, the approximate population for 2016 to 2031 are calculated for 20 Indian states using both the models, compared and recorded the data with the actual population. On comparing the results of both models, it is found that logistic population model is more accurate than the exponential model, and using this model, we can predict the future population in a more effective way. This will give an insight to the researchers about the effective models of population and how effective these population models are in predicting the future population.Keywords: population growth, population models, exponential model, logistic model, fibonacci model, lotka-volterra model, future population prediction, demographers
Procedia PDF Downloads 124488 Development of a Complete Single Jet Common Rail Injection System Gas Dynamic Model for Hydrogen Fueled Engine with Port Injection Feeding System
Authors: Mohammed Kamil, M. M. Rahman, Rosli A. Bakar
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Modeling of hydrogen fueled engine (H2ICE) injection system is a very important tool that can be used for explaining or predicting the effect of advanced injection strategies on combustion and emissions. In this paper, a common rail injection system (CRIS) is proposed for 4-strokes 4-cylinders hydrogen fueled engine with port injection feeding system (PIH2ICE). For this system, a numerical one-dimensional gas dynamic model is developed considering single injection event for each injector per a cycle. One-dimensional flow equations in conservation form are used to simulate wave propagation phenomenon throughout the CR (accumulator). Using this model, the effect of common rail on the injection system characteristics is clarified. These characteristics include: rail pressure, sound velocity, rail mass flow rate, injected mass flow rate and pressure drop across injectors. The interaction effects of operational conditions (engine speed and rail pressure) and geometrical features (injector hole diameter) are illustrated; and the required compromised solutions are highlighted. The CRIS is shown to be a promising enhancement for PIH2ICE.Keywords: common rail, hydrogen engine, port injection, wave propagation
Procedia PDF Downloads 424487 The Role of the Media in Foreign Policy Formulation: A Case Study of Turkey-Greece Relations from 2004 to 2011
Authors: Mohammed Kamal Alhassan
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The closeness of Turkey to Greece has often been a cause of many disagreements between the people of the two countries. This is against the backdrop of the fact that they have many things in common. In the past, the two countries have had unhealthy relations, which threatened to cut diplomatic ties between them. The 1996 Imia/ Kardak incident and the Öcalan crisis, for instance, nearly resulted in war between them. There were events that also brought the two countries together, for instance, the 1999 earthquake. This was because many lives were lost during the disaster. It is important to note that these events were duly covered by the media in the two countries. First of all, the study intends to look at the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy in Turkey-Greece relations. It examines the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy with particular emphasis on agenda-setting and positioning theories of the media as the theoretical framework. Also, the study will discuss the media landscapes in Turkey and Greece, the ownership pattern of the media sector and the relationship between media organizations and the government in the two countries. Moreover, the core foreign policy objectives of the countries will be delved into. Finally, the study employs a qualitative method to critically analyze the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy in Turkey-Greece relations. It uses the invitation of the Former Prime Minister of Greece, George Andreas Papandreou, to the Ambassadors Conference in Turkey as a case study. In the end, the analysis will prove that, indeed, the media in Greece was effective in the formulation of foreign policy in its relations with Turkey.Keywords: media organizations, foreign policy, government, diplomacy
Procedia PDF Downloads 119486 Tuberculosis (TB) and Lung Cancer
Authors: Asghar Arif
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Lung cancer has been recognized as one of the greatest common cancers, causing the annual mortality rate of about 1.2 million people in the world. Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer in men and the third-most common cancer among women (after breast and digestive cancers).Recent evidences have shown the inflammatory process as one of the potential factors of cancer. Tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia, and chronic bronchitis are among the most important inflammation-inducing factors in the lungs, among which TB has a more profound role in the emergence of cancer.TB is one of the important mortality factors throughout the world, and 205,000 death cases are reported annually due to this disease. Chronic inflammation and fibrosis due to TB can induce genetic mutation and alternations. Parenchyma tissue of lung is involved in both diseases of TB and lung cancer, and continuous cough in lung cancer, morphological vascular variations, lymphocytosis processes, and generation of immune system mediators such as interleukins, are all among the factors leading to the hypothesis regarding the role of TB in lung cancer Some reports have shown that the induction of necrosis and apoptosis or TB reactivation, especially in patients with immune-deficiency, may result in increasing IL-17 and TNF_α, which will either decrease P53 activity or increase the expression of Bcl-2, decrease Bax-T, and cause the inhibition of caspase-3 expression due to decreasing the expression of mitochondria cytochrome oxidase. It has been also indicated that following the injection of BCG vaccine, the host immune system will be reinforced, and in particular, the rates of gamma interferon, nitric oxide, and interleukin-2 are increased. Therefore, CD4 + lymphocyte function will be improved, and the person will be immune against cancer.Numerous prospective studies have so far been conducted on the role of TB in lung cancer, and it seems that this disease is effective in that particular cancer.One of the main challenges of lung cancer is its correct and timely diagnosis. Unfortunately, clinical symptoms (such as continuous cough, hemoptysis, weight loss, fever, chest pain, dyspnea, and loss of appetite) and radiological images are similar in TB and lung cancer. Therefore, anti-TB drugs are routinely prescribed for the patients in the countries with high prevalence of TB, like Pakistan. Regarding the similarity in clinical symptoms and radiological findings of lung cancer, proper diagnosis is necessary for TB and respiratory infections due to nontuberculousmycobacteria (NTM). Some of the drug resistive TB cases are, in fact, lung cancer or NTM lung infections. Acid-fast staining and histological study of phlegm and bronchial washing, culturing and polymerase chain reaction TB are among the most important solutions for differential diagnosis of these diseases. Briefly, it is assumed that TB is one of the risk factors for cancer. Numerous studies have been conducted in this regard throughout the world, and it has been observed that there is a significant relationship between previous TB infection and lung cancer. However, to prove this hypothesis, further and more extensive studies are required. In addition, as the clinical symptoms and radiological findings of TB, lung cancer, and non-TB mycobacteria lung infections are similar, they can be misdiagnosed as TB.Keywords: TB and lung cancer, TB people, TB servivers, TB and HIV aids
Procedia PDF Downloads 73485 Denoising of Motor Unit Action Potential Based on Tunable Band-Pass Filter
Authors: Khalida S. Rijab, Mohammed E. Safi, Ayad A. Ibrahim
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When electrical electrodes are mounted on the skin surface of the muscle, a signal is detected when a skeletal muscle undergoes contraction; the signal is known as surface electromyographic signal (EMG). This signal has a noise-like interference pattern resulting from the temporal and spatial summation of action potentials (AP) of all active motor units (MU) near electrode detection. By appropriate processing (Decomposition), the surface EMG signal may be used to give an estimate of motor unit action potential. In this work, a denoising technique is applied to the MUAP signals extracted from the spatial filter (IB2). A set of signals from a non-invasive two-dimensional grid of 16 electrodes from different types of subjects, muscles, and sex are recorded. These signals will acquire noise during recording and detection. A digital fourth order band- pass Butterworth filter is used for denoising, with a tuned band-pass frequency of suitable choice of cutoff frequencies is investigated, with the aim of obtaining a suitable band pass frequency. Results show an improvement of (1-3 dB) in the signal to noise ratio (SNR) have been achieved, relative to the raw spatial filter output signals for all cases that were under investigation. Furthermore, the research’s goal included also estimation and reconstruction of the mean shape of the MUAP.Keywords: EMG, Motor Unit, Digital Filter, Denoising
Procedia PDF Downloads 401484 The Effect of Mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards Reporting on Investors' Herding Practice: Evidence from Eu Equity Markets
Authors: Mohammed Lawal Danrimi, Ervina Alfan, Mazni Abdullah
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The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) encourages information-based trading and mitigates investors’ herding practice in emerging EU equity markets. Utilizing a modified non-linear model of cross-sectional absolute deviation (CSAD), we find that the hypothesis that mandatory IFRS adoption improves the information set of investors and reduces irrational investment behavior may in some cases be incorrect, and the reverse may be true. For instance, with regard to herding concerns, the new reporting benchmark has rather aggravated investors’ herding practice. However, we also find that mandatory IFRS adoption does not appear to be the only instigator of the observed herding practice; national institutional factors, particularly regulatory quality, political stability and control of corruption, also significantly contribute to investors’ herd formation around the new reporting regime. The findings would be of interest to academics, regulators and policymakers in performing a cost-benefit analysis of the so-called better reporting regime, as well as financial statement users who make decisions based on firms’ fundamental variables, treating them as significant indicators of future market movement.Keywords: equity markets, herding, IFRS, CSAD
Procedia PDF Downloads 178483 Estimation of Cholesterol Level in Different Brands of Vegetable Oils in Iraq
Authors: Mohammed Idaan Hassan Al-Majidi
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An analysis of twenty one assorted brands of vegetable oils in Babylon Iraq, reveals varying levels of cholesterol content. Cholesterol was found to be present in most of the oil brands sampled using three standard methods. Cholesterol was detected in seventeen of the vegetable oil brands with concentration of less than 1 mg/ml while seven of the oil brands had cholesterol concentrations ranging between 1-4 mg/ml. Low iodine values were obtained in four of the vegetable oil brands and three of them had high acid values. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed the presence of cholesterol at varying concentrations in all the oil brands and gave the lowest detectable cholesterol values in all the oil brands. The Laser brand made from rapeseed had the highest cholesterol concentration of 3.2 mg/ml while Grand brand made from groundnuts had the least concentration (0.12 mg/ml) of cholesterol using HPLC analysis. Leibermann-Burchard method showed that Gino brand from palm kernel had the least concentration of cholesterol (3.86 mg/ml ±0.032) and the highest concentration of 3.996 mg/ml ±0.0404 was obtained in Sesame seed oil brand. This report is important in view of health implications of cholesterol in our diets. Consequently, we have been able to show that there is no cholesterol free oil in the market as shown on the vegetable oil brand labels. Therefore, companies producing and marketing vegetable oils are enjoined to desist from misleading the public by labeling their products as “cholesterol free”. They should indicate the amount of cholesterol present in the vegetable oil, no matter how small the quantity may be.Keywords: vegetable oils, heart diseases, leibermann-burchard, cholesterol
Procedia PDF Downloads 259