Search results for: response spectrum method

Authors: Ahmad Odeh

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Researchers are currently more concerned about the calculations of energy at the operational stage, mainly due to its larger environmental impact, but the fact remains, embodied energies represent a substantial contributor unaccounted for in the overall energy computation method. The calculation of materials’ embodied energy during the construction stage is complicated. This is due to the various factors involved. The equipment used, fuel needed, and electricity required for each type of materials varies with location and thus the embodied energy will differ for each project. Moreover, the method used in manufacturing, transporting and putting in place will have significant influence on the materials’ embodied energy. This anomaly has made it difficult to calculate or even bench mark the usage of such energies. This paper presents a model aimed at calculating embodied energies based on such variabilities. It presents a systematic approach that uses an efficient method of calculation to provide a new insight for the selection of construction materials. The model is developed in a BIM environment. The quantification of materials’ energy is determined over the three main stages of their lifecycle: manufacturing, transporting and placing. The model uses three major databases each of which contains set of the construction materials that are most commonly used in building projects. The first dataset holds information about the energy required to manufacture any type of materials, the second includes information about the energy required for transporting the materials while the third stores information about the energy required by machinery to place the materials in their intended locations. Through geospatial data analysis, the model automatically calculates the distances between the suppliers and construction sites and then uses dataset information for energy computations. The computational sum of all the energies is automatically calculated and then the model provides designers with a list of usable equipment along with the associated embodied energies.

Keywords: BIM, lifecycle energy assessment, building automation, energy conservation

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Authors: Inkeri Jääskeläinen

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The purpose of this study is to shed light on what is it like to study in apprenticeship training using Finnish as second language. This study examines the stories and experiences of apprenticeship students learning and studying Finnish as part of their vocational studies. Also, this pilot study examines the effects of learning to pronounce Finnish through body motions and gestures. Many foreign students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training too early, while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills (B1.1) and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. At work students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressing environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other and so are their ways to learn. Thereafter, one of the most important features of apprenticeship training and second language learning is good understanding of adult learners and their needs. Kinaesthetic methods are an effective way to support adult students’ cognitive skills and make learning more relaxing and fun. Empirical findings show that language learning can indeed be supported physical ways, by body motions and gestures. The method used here, named TFFL (Touch and Feel Foreign Languages), was designed to support adult language learning, to correct or prevent language fossilization and to help the student to manage emotions. Finnish is considered as a difficult language to learn, mostly because it is so different from nearly all other languages. Many learners complain that they are lost or confused and there is a need to find a way to simultaneously learn the language and to handle negative emotion which come from Finnish language and the learning process itself. Due to the nature of Finnish language good pronunciation skills are needed just to understand the way the language work. Movements (body movements etc.) are a natural part of many cultures but not Finnish – In Finland students have traditionally been expected to stay still and that is not a natural way for many foreign students. However, kinaesthetic TFFL method proved out to be a useful way to help some L2 students to feel phonemes, rhythm and intonation, to improve their Finnish and, thereby, also to successfully complete their vocational studies.

Keywords: Finnish, fossilization, interference, kinaesthetic method

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Authors: Faris Mohsin Alabeedi

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Pemphigus Vulgaris (PV) is a life-threatening autoimmune blistering disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies directed against the epidermis's surface proteins. There are two forms of PV, mucocutaneous and mucosal-dominant PV. Disruption of the cell junctions is a hallmark of PV due to the autoantibodies targeting the desmosomal cadherins, desmoglein-3 (Dsg3) and desmoglein-1, leading to acantholysis in the skin and mucous membrane. Although the pathogenesis of PV is known, the detailed molecular events remain not fully understood. Our recent study has shown that both the PV sera and pathogenic anti-Dsg3 antibody AK23 can induce ROS and cause oxidative stress in cultured keratinocytes. In line with our finding, other independent studies also demonstrate oxidative stress in PV. Since Nrf2 plays a crucial role in cellular anti-oxidative stress response, we hypothesize that the expression of Nrf2 may alter in PV. Thus, treatment of cells with PV sera or AK23 may cause changes in Nrf2 expression and distribution. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of AK23 and PV sera on Nrf2 in a normal human keratinocyte cell line, such as NTERT cells. Both a time-course and dose-dependent experiments with AK23, alongside the matched isotype control IgG, were performed in keratinocyte cultures and analysed by immunofluorescence for Nrf2 and Dsg3. Additionally, the same approach was conducted with the sera from PV patients and healthy individuals that served as a control in this study. All the fluorescent images were analysed using ImageJ software. Each experiment was repeated twice. In general, variations were observed throughout this study. In the dose-response experiments, although enhanced Dsg3 expression was consistently detected in AK23 treated cells, the expression of Nrf2 showed no consistent findings between the experiments, although changes in its expression were noticeable in cells treated with AK23. In the time-course study, a trend with induction of Nrf2 over time was shown in control cells treated with mouse isotype IgG. Treatment with AK23 showed a reduction of Nrf2 in a time-dependent manner, especially at the 24-hour time point. However, the earlier time points, such as 2 hours and 6 hours with AK23 treatments, detected somewhat variations. Finally, PV sera caused a decrease of Dsg3, but on the other hand, variations were observed in Nrf2 expression in PV sera treated cells. In general, PV sera seemed to cause a reduction of Nrf2 in the majority of PV sera treated samples. In addition, more pronounced cytoplasmic expression of Nrf2 has been observed in PV sera treated cells than those treated with AK23, suggesting that polyclonal and monoclonal IgG might induce a different effect on Nrf2 expression and distribution. Further experimental studies are crucial to obtain a more coincide global view of Nrf2-mediated gene regulation. In particular, Pemphigus Voulgaris studies assessing how the Nrf2-dependent network changes from a physiological to a pathological condition can provide insight into disease mechanisms and perhaps initiate further treatment approaches.

Keywords: pemphigus vulgaris, monoclonal antibody against desmoglein-3, Nrf2 oxidative stress, keratinocyte cultures

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Authors: B. Razmi, F. Rafiee, M. Baziar, A. Saeedi Azizkandi

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In the present research, a series of 3-D finite element numerical modeling was performed to study the effect of system frequency and excitation specifications on the internal forces of the piled raft (PR) system in a dry sand layer. The results of numerical simulations were first compared with those associated with centrifuge tests. The natural frequency of superstructure, modeled on the piled raft foundation, was smaller than the natural frequency of the fixed-base super-structure. This difference was greater for super-structures with higher frequencies. In PR systems, the excitation with a frequency close to the system frequency produced the largest responses. Furthermore, based on the results of presented numerical analyses, ignoring the interactions and characteristics of all components of a pile-raft-structure, may lead to highly uneconomical design.

Keywords: centrifuge test, excitation frequency, natural frequency of super-structure, piled raft foundation, 3-D finite element model

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Authors: Khen Cohen, Daniel Yankelevich, David Mendlovic, Dan Raviv

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We present a 3D stereo system for high-resolution sensing in both the spatial and the temporal domains by combining a frame-based camera and an event-based camera. We establish a method to merge both devices into one unite system and introduce a calibration process, followed by a correspondence technique and interpolation algorithm for 3D reconstruction. We further provide quantitative analysis about our system in terms of depth resolution and additional parameter analysis. We show experimentally how our system performs temporal super-resolution up to effectively 1ms and can detect fast-moving objects and human micro-movements that can be used for micro-expression analysis. We also demonstrate how our method can extract colored events for an event-based camera without any degradation in the spatial resolution, compared to a colored filter array.

Keywords: DVS-CIS stereo vision, micro-movements, temporal super-resolution, 3D reconstruction

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Authors: Mesfin Nigussie Ibido

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The study is designed to explore the effects of land certification in securing women’s land rights of two rural villages in Robe district at Arsi Zone of Oromia regional state. The land is very critical assets for human life survival and the backbone for rural women livelihood. Equal access and control power to the land have given a chance for rural women to participate in different economic activities and improve their bargaining ability for decision making on their rights. Unfortunately, women were discriminated and marginalized from access and control of land for centuries through customary practices. However, in many countries, legal reform is used as a powerful tool for eliminating discriminatory provisions in property rights. Among other equity and efficiency concerns, the land certification program in Ethiopia attempts to address gender bias concerns of the current land-tenure system. The existed rural land policy was recognizing a women land rights and benefited by strengthened wives awareness of their land rights and contribute to the strong involvement of wives in decision making. However, harmful practices and policy implementation problems still against women do not fully exercise a provision of land rights in a different area of the country. Thus, this study is carried out to examine the effect of land certification in securing women’s land rights by eliminating the discriminatory nature of cultural abuses of study areas. Probability and non-probability sampling types were used, and the sample size was determined by using the sampling distribution of the proportion method. Systematic random sampling method was applied by taking the nth element of the sample frame. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied, and survey respondents of 192 households were conducted and administering questionnaires in the quantitative method. The qualitative method was applied by interviews with focus group discussions with rural women, case stories, Village, and relevant district offices. Triangulation method was applied in data collection, data presentation and in the analysis of findings. Study finding revealed that the existence of land certification is affected by rural women positively by advancing their land rights, but still, some women are challenged by unsolved problems in the study areas. The study forwards recommendation on the existed problems or gaps to ensure women’s equal access to and control over land in the study areas.

Keywords: decision making, effects, land certification, land right, tenure security

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Authors: Sharad Kumar Kulshreshtha

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India is a great land of cultural and traditional diversity. Its spectrums create a unique ambiance in all over the country. Specially, fairs and festivals are ancient phenomena in Indian culture. In India, there are thousands of such religious, spiritual, cultural fairs organized on auspicious occasions. These fairs reflect the effective and efficient role of social governance and responsibility of Indian society. In this context a mega event known as ‘Kumbha Mela’ literally mean ‘Kumbha Fair’ which is organize after every twelve years at (Prayaag) Allahabad an ancient city of India, now is in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Kumbh Mela is one of the largest human congregations on the Earth. The Kumbha Mela that is held here is considered to be the largest and holiest city among the four cities where Kubha fair organize. According to the Hindu religious scripture a dip for possessing the holy confluence, known as Triveni Sangam, which is a meeting point of the three sacred rivers of India i.e., –Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati (mythical). During the Kumbha fair the River Ganges is believed to turn to nectar, bringing great blessing to everyone who bathes in it. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singings and mass feedings pilgrims and poor. The venue for Kumbh Mela (fair) depends on the position Sun, Moon, and Jupiter which holds in that period in different zodiac signs. More than 120 Millions (12 Crore) people visited in the Kumbha Fair-2013 in Allahabad. A temporary tented city was set up for the pilgrims over an area of 2 hectares of the land along the river of Ganges. As many as 5 power substations, temporary police stations, hospitals, bus terminals, stalls were set up for providing various facilities to the visitors and thousands of volunteers participated for assistance of this event. All efforts made by fair administration to provide facility to visitors, such security and sanitation, medical care and frequent water and power supply. The efficient and timely arrangement at the Kumbha Mela attracted the attention of many government and institutions. The Harvard University of USA conducted research to find out how it was made possible. This paper will focuses on effective and efficient planning and preparation of Kumbha Fair which includes facilitation process, role of various coordinating agencies. risk management crisis management strategies Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery (PPRR Approach), emergency response plan (ERP), safety and security issues, various environmental aspects along with health hazards and hygiene crowd management, evacuation, monitoring, control and evaluation.

Keywords: event planning and facility arrangement, risk management, crowd management, India

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Authors: M. A. García, J. Vinolas, A. Hernando

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Steel is nowadays one of the most important structural materials because of its outstanding mechanical properties. Therefore, in order to look for a sustainable economic model and to optimize the use of extensive resources, new methods to monitor and prevent failure of steel-based facilities are required. The classical mechanical tests, as for instance building tasting, are invasive and destructive. Moreover, for facilities where the steel element is embedded, (as reinforced concrete) these techniques are directly non applicable. Hence, non-invasive monitoring techniques to prevent failure, without altering the structural properties of the elements are required. Among them, electromagnetic methods are particularly suitable for non-invasive inspection of the mechanical state of steel-based elements. The magnetoelastic coupling effects induce a modification of the electromagnetic properties of an element upon applied stress. Since most steels are ferromagnetic because of their large Fe content, it is possible to inspect their structure and state in a non-invasive way. We present here a distinct electromagnetic method for contactless evaluation of internal stress in steel-based elements. In particular, this method relies on measuring the magnetic induction between two coils with the steel specimen in between them. We found that the alteration of electromagnetic properties of the steel specimen induced by applied stress-induced changes in the induction allowed us to detect stress well below half of the elastic limit of the material. Hence, it represents an outstanding non-invasive method to prevent failure in steel-based facilities. We here describe the theoretical model, present experimental results to validate it and finally we show a practical application for detection of stress and inhomogeneities in train railways.

Keywords: magnetoelastic, magnetic induction, mechanical stress, steel

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Authors: Filip Rusak, Yulia Arzhaeva, Dadong Wang

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Machine learning based Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) is gaining much popularity in medical imaging and diagnostic radiology. However, it requires a large amount of high quality and labeled training image datasets. The training images may come from different sources and be acquired from different radiography machines produced by different manufacturers, digital or digitized copies of film radiographs, with various sizes as well as different pixel intensity distributions. In this paper, a content-aware image augmentation method is presented to deal with these variations. The results of the proposed method have been validated graphically by plotting the removed and added seams of pixels on original images. Two different chest X-ray (CXR) datasets are used in the experiments. The CXRs in the datasets defer in size, some are digital CXRs while the others are digitized from analog CXR films. With the proposed content-aware augmentation method, the Seam Carving algorithm is employed to resize CXRs and the corresponding labels in the form of image masks, followed by histogram matching used to normalize the pixel intensities of digital radiography, based on the pixel intensity values of digitized radiographs. We implemented the algorithms, resized the well-known Montgomery dataset, to the size of the most frequently used Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT) dataset and normalized our digital CXRs for testing. This work resulted in the unified off-the-shelf CXR dataset composed of radiographs included in both, Montgomery and JSRT datasets. The experimental results show that even though the amount of augmentation is large, our algorithm can preserve the important information in lung fields, local structures, and global visual effect adequately. The proposed method can be used to augment training and testing image data sets so that the trained machine learning model can be used to process CXRs from various sources, and it can be potentially used broadly in any medical imaging applications.

Keywords: computer-aided diagnosis, image augmentation, lung segmentation, medical imaging, seam carving

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Authors: Ana-Katarina Nikich

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Background: The kinesiotaping method is often used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of taping in the rehabilitation process of patients. Materials and methods: The study involved 90 male and female patients (the average age was 40-50 years) with various conditions requiring rehabilitation, such as injuries of the musculoskeletal system, sports injuries and other ailments. All patients were divided into two groups: experimental (n=40) and control (n=50). Both groups received 20 days of standard rehabilitation. In the experimental group, kinesiotaping methods were used, taking into account the individual characteristics of each patient. The control group performed regular exercises and physical therapy, but without using kinesiotape. During the study, physical parameters were monitored, interviews were conducted and the conditions of patients from both groups were compared. Results and discussion: The use of the kinesiotaping method in the rehabilitation process led to a significant improvement in physical parameters and pain reduction in patients. Significant improvement (p <0.005) was observed in all evaluated parameters among the patients of the experimental group. The control group also showed sufficient improvement (p <0.005), but the percentage of the experimental group was higher. As a result of the observation, the patients of the experimental group showed faster and more complete rehabilitation compared to the control group. The use of the kinesiotaping method allows to reduce the load on the damaged areas, improve blood circulation and lymphatic drainage, as well as increase stability and coordination of movements. Conclusions: Kinesiotaping as one of the modern therapeutic methods has shown its effectiveness in the rehabilitation process, contributing to the optimal recovery of patients with various conditions requiring rehabilitation. The use of tapes should be included in a comprehensive rehabilitation program to achieve the best results and reduce recovery time.

Keywords: kinesiotaping, rehabilitation, therapy, pain

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Authors: Donatello Cardone

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Bilinear hysteresis models are usually used to describe the cyclic behavior of high damping rubber bearings. However, they neglect a number of phenomena (such as the interaction between axial load and shear force, buckling and post-buckling behavior, cavitation, scragging effects, etc.) that can significantly influence the dynamic behavior of such isolation devices. In this work, an advanced hysteresis model is examined and properly calibrated using consolidated procedures. Results of preliminary numerical analyses, performed in OpenSees, are shown and compared with the results of experimental tests on high damping rubber bearings and simulation analyses using alternative nonlinear models. The findings of this study can provide an useful tool for the accurate evaluation of the seismic response of structures with rubber-based isolation systems.

Keywords: seismic isolation, high damping rubber bearings, numerical modeling, axial-shear force interaction

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Authors: Mohammed Alkiyumi

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Educational systems are currently paying special attention to developing learners' higher thinking skills to develop the capabilities of human resources to deal with contemporary challenges. Although psychologists disagree about the concept of higher-order thinking skills and the skills they include, there is unlimited effort in designing them and building strategies for their implementation. The most important factor helping to develop these skills is their classification according to specific criteria, and the most important of these classifications is Bloom's classification, which is dominant in most educational systems at all levels. Previous classifications have many limitations, including the comprehensiveness of the skills they contain, the logical structure of their hierarchy, and classification criteria. Therefore, this article puts another step in this area by providing a new classification of higher-order thinking skills that includes five categories: the first response stage, transformative stage, application, reasoning stage, and the production stage with a logical justification for this classification, with some techniques to developing it among learners.

Keywords: high-order thinking skills, classification, teaching, education

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Authors: Amirreza Kosari, Hossein Maghsoudi, Malahat Givar

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In this study, the three-dimensional optimal path planning of a flying robot for Terrain Following / Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) purposes using Direct Collocation has been investigated. To this purpose, firstly, the appropriate equations of motion representing the flying robot translational movement have been described. The three-dimensional optimal path planning of the flying vehicle in terrain following/terrain avoidance maneuver is formulated as an optimal control problem. The terrain profile, as the main allowable height constraint has been modeled using Fractal Generation Method. The resulting optimal control problem is discretized by applying Direct Collocation numerical technique, and then transformed into a Nonlinear Programming Problem (NLP). The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated by extensive simulations, and in particular, it is verified that this approach could produce a solution satisfying almost all performance and environmental constraints encountering a low-level flying maneuver

Keywords: path planning, terrain following, optimal control, nonlinear programming

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Authors: Jing Ma, Guotong Qin

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We reported electro-confinement desalination (ECMD), a desalination method combining electric field effects and confinement effects using nanoporous carbon membranes as electrode. A carbon membrane with average pore size of 8.3 nm was prepared by organic sol-gel method. The precursor of support was prepared by curing porous phenol resin tube. Resorcinol-formaldehyde sol was coated on porous tubular resin support. The membrane was obtained by carbonisation of coated support. A well-combined top layer with the thickness of 35 μm was supported by macroporous support. Measurements of molecular weight cut-off using polyethylene glycol showed the average pore size of 8.3 nm. High salt rejection can be achieved because the water molecules need not overcome high energy barriers in confined space, while huge inherent dehydration energy was required for hydrated ions to enter the nanochannels. Additionally, carbon membrane with additional electric field can be used as an integrated membrane electrode combining the effects of confinement and electric potential gradient. Such membrane electrode can repel co-ions and attract counter-ions using pressure as the driving force for mass transport. When the carbon membrane was set as cathode, the rejection of SO₄²⁻ was 94.89%, while the removal of Na⁺ was less than 20%. We set carbon membrane as anode chamber to treat the effluent water from the cathode chamber. The rejection of SO₄²⁻ and Na⁺ reached to 100% and 88.86%, respectively. ECMD will be a promising energy efficient method for salt rejection.

Keywords: nanoporous carbon membrane, confined effect, electric field, desalination, membrane reactor

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Authors: William Elnemer, Nauman Hussain, Samir Al-Ali, Henry Shu, Diane Ghanem, Babar Shafiq

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Introduction: The incidence of infection in open tibial shaft injuries varies depending on the severity of the injury, with rates ranging from 1.8% for Gustilo-Anderson type I to 42.9% for type IIIB fractures. The timely administration of antibiotics upon presentation to the emergency department (ED) is an essential component of fracture management, and evidence indicates that prompt delivery of antibiotics is associated with improved outcomes. The objective of this study is to identify factors that contribute to the expedient administration of antibiotics. Methods: This is a retrospective study of open tibial shaft fractures at an academic Level I trauma center. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes identified all patients treated for open tibial shaft fractures between 2015 and 2021. Open fractures were identified by reviewing ED and provider notes, and with ballistic fractures were considered open. Chart reviews were performed to extract demographics, fracture characteristics, postoperative outcomes, time to operative room, time to antibiotic order, and delivery. Univariate statistical analysis compared patients who received early antibiotics (EA), which were delivered within one hour of ED presentation, and those who received late antibiotics (LA), which were delivered outside of one hour of ED presentation. A multivariate analysis was performed to investigate patient, fracture, and transport/ED characteristics contributing to faster delivery of antibiotics. The multivariate analysis included the dependent variables: ballistic fracture, activation of Delta Trauma, Gustilo-Andersen (Type III vs. Type I and II), AO-OTA Classification (Type C vs. Type A and B), arrival between 7 am and 11 pm, and arrival via Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or walk-in. Results: Seventy ED patients with open tibial shaft fractures were identified. Of these, 39 patients (55.7%) received EA, while 31 patients (44.3%) received LA. Univariate analysis shows that the arrival via EMS as opposed to walk-in (97.4% vs. 74.2%, respectively, p = 0.01) and activation of Delta Trauma (89.7% vs. 51.6%, respectively, p < 0.001) was significantly higher in the EA group vs. the LA group. Additionally, EA cases had significantly shorter intervals between the antibiotic order and delivery when compared to LA cases (0.02 hours vs. 0.35 hours, p = 0.007). No other significant differences were found in terms of postoperative outcomes or fracture characteristics. Multivariate analysis shows that a Delta Trauma Response, arrival via EMS, and presentation between 7 am and 11 pm were independent predictors of a shorter time to antibiotic administration (Odds Ratio = 11.9, 30.7, and 5.4, p = 0.001, 0.016, and 0.013, respectively). Discussion: Earlier antibiotic delivery is associated with arrival to the ED between 7 am and 11 pm, arrival via EMS, and a coordinated Delta Trauma activation. Our findings indicate that in cases where administering antibiotics is critical to achieving positive outcomes, it is advisable to employ a coordinated Delta Trauma response. Hospital personnel should be attentive to the rapid administration of antibiotics to patients with open fractures who arrive via walk-in or during late-night hours.

Keywords: antibiotics, emergency department, fracture management, open tibial shaft fractures, orthopaedic surgery, time to or, trauma fractures

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Authors: Panudet Saengseedam, Nanthachai Kantanantha

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This paper proposes a linear mixed model (LMM) with spatial effects to forecast rice and cassava yields in Thailand at the same time. A multivariate conditional autoregressive (MCAR) model is assumed to present the spatial effects. A Bayesian method is used for parameter estimation via Gibbs sampling Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The model is applied to the rice and cassava yields monthly data which have been extracted from the Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand. The results show that the proposed model has better performance in most provinces in both fitting part and validation part compared to the simple exponential smoothing and conditional auto regressive models (CAR) from our previous study.

Keywords: Bayesian method, linear mixed model, multivariate conditional autoregressive model, spatial time series

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Authors: Patsy Tan, Dana Baltutis

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This presentation demonstrates the effectiveness of music therapy in co-treatment with speech pathology and occupational therapy as an innovative way when working with children and adolescents with complex individual differences to facilitate communication, emotional, motor and social skills development. Each child with special needs and their carer has an individual profile which encompasses their visual-spatial, auditory, language, learning, mental health, family dynamic, sensory-motor, motor planning and sequencing profiles. The most common issues among children with special needs, especially those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, are in the areas of regulation, communication, and social-emotional development. The ability of children living with challenges to communicate and use language and understand verbal and non-verbal information, as well as move their bodies to explore and interact with their environments in social situations, depends on the children being regulated both internally and externally and trusting their communication partners and understanding what is happening in the moment. For carers, it is about understanding the tempo, rhythm, pacing, and timing of their own individual profile, as well as the profile of the child they are interacting with, and how these can sync together. In this study, music therapy is used in co-treatment sessions with a speech pathologist and/or an occupational therapist using the DIRFloortime approach to facilitate the regulation, attention, engagement, reciprocity and social-emotional capacities of children presenting with complex individual differences. Documented changes in 10 domains of children’s development over a 12-month period using the Individual Music Therapy Assessment Profile (IMTAP) were observed. Children were assessed biannually, and results show significant improvements in the social-emotional, musicality and receptive language domains indicating that co-treatment with a music therapist using the DIRFloortime framework is highly effective. This presentation will highlight strategies that facilitate regulation, social-emotional and communication development for children and adolescents with complex individual profiles.

Keywords: communication, shared attention, regulation, social emotional

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Authors: Sol Girouard, Zona Kostic

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A home is often the largest and most expensive purchase a person makes. Whether the decision leads to a successful outcome will be determined by a combination of critical factors. In this paper, we propose a method that efficiently handles all the factors in residential real estate and performs predictions given a feature space with high dimensionality while controlling for overfitting. The proposed method was built on gradient descent and boosting algorithms and uses a mixed optimizing technique to improve the prediction power. Usually, a single model cannot handle all the cases thus our approach builds multiple models based on different subsets of the predictors. The algorithm was tested on 3 million homes across the U.S., and the experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of this approach by outperforming techniques currently used in forecasting prices. With everyday changes on the real estate market, our proposed algorithm capitalizes from new events allowing more efficient predictions.

Keywords: real estate prediction, gradient descent, boosting, ensemble methods, active learning, training

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtari, Maryam Aliakbari

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prediction of child attachment style based on a positive and safe combination parenting method mediated by maternal attachment styles in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Method: The design of the present study was descriptive of correlation and structural equations and applied in terms of purpose. The population of this study includes all children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder living in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province and their mothers. The sample size of the above study includes 165children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province with their mothers, who were selected by purposive sampling method based on the inclusion criteria. The obtained data were analyzed in two sections of descriptive and inferential statistics. In the descriptive statistics section, statistical indices of mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution table and graph were used. In the inferential section, according to the nature of the hypotheses and objectives of the research, the data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient tests, Bootstrap test and structural equation model. findings:The results of structural equation modeling showed that the research models fit and showed a positive and safe combination parenting style mediated by the mother attachment style has an indirect effect on the child attachment style. Also, a positive and safe combined parenting style has a direct relationship with child attachment style, and She has a mother attachment style. Conclusion:The results and findings of the present study show that there is a significant relationship between positive and safe combination parenting methods and attachment styles of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with maternal attachment style mediation. Therefore, it can be expected that parents using a positive and safe combination232 parenting method can effectively lead to secure attachment in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Keywords: child attachment style, positive and safe parenting, maternal attachment style, ADHD

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Authors: Wiyanti Fransisca Simanullang, Shinya Yamanaka

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Grinding method was used to control the active site and to improve the specific surface area (SSA) of calcium oxide (CaO) derived from scallop shell as a sustainable resource. The dry grinding of CaO with acetone and tertiary butanol as a liquid additive was carried out using a planetary ball mill with a laboratory scale. The experiments were operated by stepwise addition with time variations to determine the grinding limit. The active site of CaO was measured by X-Ray Diffraction and FT-IR. The SSA variations of products with grinding time were measured by BET method. The morphology structure of CaO was observed by SEM. The use of liquid additive was effective for increasing the SSA and controlling the active site of CaO. SSA of CaO was increased in proportion to the amount of the liquid additive and the grinding time. The performance of CaO as a solid base catalyst for biodiesel production was tested in the transesterification reaction of used cooking oil to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME).

Keywords: active site, calcium oxide, grinding, specific surface area

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Authors: Gabriel Ugalahi, Dominic S. Nyitamen

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This project seeks to improve Wi-Fi reception by utilizing the properties of directional microstrip patch antennae. Where there is a dense population of Wi-Fi signal, several signal sources transmitting on the same frequency band and indeed channel constitutes interference to each other. The time it takes for request to be received, resolved and response given between a user and the resource provider is increased considerably. By deploying a directional patch antenna with a narrow bandwidth, the range of frequency received is reduced and should help in limiting the reception of signal from unwanted sources. A rectangular microstrip patch antenna (RMPA) is designed to operate at the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (2.4GHz) commonly used in Wi-Fi network deployment. The dimensions of the antenna are calculated and these dimensions are used to generate a model on Advanced Design System (ADS), a microwave simulator. Simulation results are then analyzed and necessary optimization is carried out to further enhance the radiation quality so as to achieve desired results. Impedance matching at 50Ω is also obtained by using the inset feed method. Final antenna dimensions obtained after simulation and optimization are then used to implement practical construction on an FR-4 double sided copper clad printed circuit board (PCB) through a chemical etching process using ferric chloride (Fe2Cl). Simulation results show an RMPA operating at a centre frequency of 2.4GHz with a bandwidth of 40MHz. A voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.0725 is recorded on a return loss of -29.112dB at input port showing an appreciable match in impedance to a source of 50Ω. In addition, a gain of 3.23dBi and directivity of 6.4dBi is observed during far-field analysis. On deployment, signal reception from wireless devices is improved due to antenna gain. A test source with a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of -80dBm without antenna installed on the receiver was improved to an RSSI of -61dBm. In addition, the directional radiation property of the RMPA prioritizes signals by pointing in the direction of a preferred signal source thus, reducing interference from undesired signal sources. This was observed during testing as rotation of the antenna on its axis resulted to the gain of signal in-front of the patch and fading of signals away from the front.

Keywords: advanced design system (ADS), inset feed, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), rectangular microstrip patch antenna (RMPA), voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Guilan Huang

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In 2013 and 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collected data from selected fast food restaurants and full service restaurants for tracking changes in the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors. This paper discussed how we customized spatial random sampling method by considering financial position and availability of FDA resources, and how we enriched restaurants data with location. Location information of restaurants provides opportunity for quantitatively determining random sampling within non-government units (e.g.: 240 kilometers around each data-collector). Spatial analysis also could optimize data-collectors’ work plans and resource allocation. Spatial analytic and processing platform helped us handling the spatial random sampling challenges. Our method fits in FDA’s ability to pinpoint features of foodservice establishments, and reduced both time and expense on data collection.

Keywords: geospatial technology, restaurant, retail food risk factor study, spatially random sampling

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Zaid Jamal Saeed Almahmoud

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Smart Grid is the vision of the future power system that combines advanced monitoring and communication technologies to provide energy in a smart, efficient, and user-friendly manner. This proposal considers a demand response model in the Smart Grid based on utility maximization. Given a set of consumers with conflicting preferences in terms of consumption and a utility company that aims to minimize the peak demand and match demand to supply, we study the problem of aggregating these preferences while modelling the problem as a game. We also investigate whether an equilibrium can be reached to maximize the social benefit. Based on such equilibrium, we propose a dynamic pricing heuristic that computes the equilibrium and sets the prices accordingly. The developed approach was analysed theoretically and evaluated experimentally using real appliances data. The results show that our proposed approach achieves a substantial reduction in the overall energy consumption.

Keywords: heuristics, smart grid, aggregation, mechanism design, equilibrium

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: M. E. Marwan, A. R. Madar, N. Fuad

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Mobile learning (m-learning) is a new method in teaching and learning process which combines technology of mobile device with learning materials. It can enhance student's engagement in learning activities and facilitate them to access the learning materials at anytime and anywhere. In Kolej Poly-Tech Mara (KPTM), this method is seen as an important effort in teaching practice and to improve student learning performance. The aim of this paper is to discuss the development of m-learning application called Mobile EEF Learning System (MEEFLS) to be implemented for Electric and Electronic Fundamentals course using Flash, XML (Extensible Markup Language) and J2ME (Java 2 micro edition). System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) was used as an application development approach. It has three modules in this application such as notes or course material, exercises and video. MEELFS development is seen as a tool or a pilot test for m-learning in KPTM.

Keywords: flash, mobile device, mobile learning, teaching and learning, SDLC, XML

Procedia PDF Downloads 509

Authors: Inkeri Jaaskelainen

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The purpose of this study is to shed light on what it is like to study in apprenticeship training using Finnish as a second language. This study examines the stories and experiences of apprenticeship students learning and studying Finnish as part of their vocational studies. Also, this pilot study examines the effects of learning to pronounce Finnish through body motions and gestures. Many foreign students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training too early, while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills (B1.1), and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. At work, students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressful environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other and so are their ways to learn. Thereafter, one of the most important features of apprenticeship training and second language learning is a good understanding of adult learners and their needs. Kinaesthetic methods are an effective way to support adult students’ cognitive skills and make learning more relaxing and fun. Empirical findings show that language learning can indeed be supported in physical ways, by body motions and gestures. The method used here, named TFFL (Touch and Feel Foreign Languages), was designed to support adult language learning, to correct or prevent language fossilization, and to help the student to manage emotions. Finnish is considered as a difficult language to learn, mostly because it is so different from nearly all other languages. Many learners complain that they are lost or confused and there is a need to find a way to simultaneously learn the language and to handle negative emotion that comes from the Finnish language and the learning process itself. Due to the nature of the Finnish language, good pronunciation skills are needed just to understand the way the language work. Movements (body movements etc.) are a natural part of many cultures, but not Finnish. In Finland, students have traditionally been expected to stay still, and that is not a natural way for many foreign students. However, the kinaesthetic TFFL method proved out to be a useful way to help some L2 students to feel phonemes, rhythm, and intonation, to improve their Finnish, and, thereby, also to successfully complete their vocational studies.

Keywords: Finnish, fossilization, interference, kinaesthetic method

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Milad Alizadeh Galdiani, Jabbar Ali Zakeri

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Lateral movement of CWR ballasted track occurs in sharp curves because of the lack of adequate lateral resistance. Several strategies have been proposed and used for increase the lateral resistance of ballasted tracks, but still there are some problems in tracks with small radius curves. In this paper, a new method has been presented for increase the lateral resistance. This method is using the lateral supports as numerical and field studies. In this paper, the field and laboratory tests have been conducted by using the single tie pressure test (STPT) and track panel loading test (LTPT). Then, their results were compared with the numerical results. The results of numerical and field tests showed that the lateral stiffness of ballasted tracks significantly increased when there were lateral supports in ballasted tracks. Also, the track structure had a bilinear behavior.

Keywords: ballasted railway, Lateral resistance, railway buckling, field and numerical studies

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Isadora Bugarin, Taygoara F. de Oliveira

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Multiphase flows have currently been placed as a key solution for technological advances in energy and thermal sciences. The comprehension of droplet motion and behavior on non-isothermal flows is, however, rather limited. The present work consists of an investigation of a 2D droplet migration on natural convection inside a square enclosure with differentially heated walls. The investigation in question concerns the effects on drop motion of imposing different combinations of Prandtl and Rayleigh numbers while defining the drop on distinct initial positions. The finite differences method was used to compute the Navier-Stokes and energy equations for a laminar flow, considering the Boussinesq approximation. Also, a high order level set method was applied to simulate the two-phase flow. A previous analysis developed by the authors had shown that for fixed values of Rayleigh and Prandtl, the variation of the droplet initial position at the beginning of the simulation delivered different patterns of motion, in which for Ra≥10⁴ the droplet presents two very specific behaviors: it can travel through a helical path towards the center or define cyclic circular paths resulting in closed paths when reaching the stationary regime. Now, when varying the Prandtl number for different Rayleigh regimes, it was observed that this particular parameter also affects the migration of the droplet, altering the motion patterns as its value is increased. On higher Prandtl values, the drop performs wider paths with larger amplitudes, traveling closer to the walls and taking longer time periods to finally reach the stationary regime. It is important to highlight that drastic drop behavior changes on the stationary regime were not yet observed, but the path traveled from the begging of the simulation until the stationary regime was significantly altered, resulting in distinct turning over frequencies. The flow’s unsteady Nusselt number is also registered for each case studied, enabling a discussion on the overall effects on heat transfer variations.

Keywords: droplet migration, level set method, multiphase flow, natural convection in enclosure, Prandtl number

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Ahmad M. Awwad, Jehad Al-Sadi

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The star network is one of the promising interconnection networks for future high speed parallel computers, it is expected to be one of the future-generation networks. The star network is both edge and vertex symmetry, it was shown to have many gorgeous topological proprieties also it is owns hierarchical structure framework. Although much of the research work has been done on this promising network in literature, it still suffers from having enough algorithms for load balancing problem. In this paper we try to work on this issue by investigating and proposing an efficient algorithm for load balancing problem for the star network. The proposed algorithm is called Star Clustered Dimension Exchange Method SCDEM to be implemented on the star network. The proposed algorithm is based on the Clustered Dimension Exchange Method (CDEM). The SCDEM algorithm is shown to be efficient in redistributing the load balancing as evenly as possible among all nodes of different factor networks.

Keywords: load balancing, star network, interconnection networks, algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Saad Bakkali

Abstract:

Morocco is a major producer of phosphate, with an annual output of 19 million tons and reserves in excess of 35 billion cubic meters. This represents more than 75% of world reserves. Resistivity surveys have been successfully used in the Oulad Abdoun phosphate basin. A Schlumberger resistivity survey over an area of 50 hectares was carried out. A new field procedure based on analytic signal response of resistivity data was tested to deal with the presence of phosphate deposit disturbances. A resistivity map was expected to allow the electrical resistivity signal to be imaged in 2D. 2D wavelet is standard tool in the interpretation of geophysical potential field data. Wavelet transform is particularly suitable in denoising, filtering and analyzing geophysical data singularities. Wavelet transform tools are applied to analysis of a moroccan phosphate deposit ‘disturbances’. Wavelet approach applied to modeling surface phosphate “disturbances” was found to be consistently useful.

Keywords: resistivity, Schlumberger, phosphate, wavelet, Morocco

Procedia PDF Downloads 402

Authors: Inas Kamel, Noor Z. Habib

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Utilizing construction and demolition wastes in hotmix asphalt (HMA) pavement construction can reduce the adverse environmental effect of its inadequate disposal and reduce the pressure of extracting and processing mineral aggregates (MA). This study aims to examine the viability of replacing MA by recycled construction and demolition waste aggregates (RCDWA) in the wearing course of asphaltic concrete (AC) pavements without compromising its loadbearing capacity. The Marshall Method was used to evaluate the performance of AC wearing course specimens by replacing MA by 10%, 20% and 30% RCDWA. Grade 60/70 bitumen was used in the range 3.0-5.5%, with 05% increments, to generate the optimum bitumen content (OBC). From the volumetric analysis and test property curves, the mixture containing 20% RCDWA was chosen as the preferred mix at 5.1% OBC. It possessed a 10% increase in Marshall Stability compared to the reference specimen, containing 100% MA, and a 6% increase in Marshall flow.

Keywords: aggregate, asphaltic concrete, Marshall method, optimum bitumen content, recycled construction and demolition waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 136