Search results for: critical analysis

Authors: Baqir Rezai, Leila Heydarinasab, Rasol Roshan, Mohammad Ghulami

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Introduction: The resilience process is one of the controversial and important subjects for child and youth immigrants throughout the world. Positive adaptation to the environment is a consequence of resilience which can affect the quality of life and physical and mental health among immigrants. Objective: A total of 714 Afghan young immigrants (14 to 18-years-old) who live in Iran for more than three years were entered into the study. A random sampling method was applied to obtain data. The study samples were divided into two groups (N1 =360 and N2=354) for exploratory and confirmation analysis. Exploratory factorial analysis was applied to confirm the construct validity of CYRM-28. Results: The results showed that this scale has useful validity content, and the study samples include three factors of individuals, context, and relational in child and youth resilience measure-28. However, from a total of 28 main items, only 15 items could identify these factors. Discussion: The resilience process among young immigrants is mainly explained by individuals, social and cultural conditions. For instance, young immigrants search the resilience process in conditions that caused their immigration. In this context, some questions about the content of security and personal promotion in society could identify three main factors.

Keywords: CYRM-28, factorial analysis, resilience, Afghan young immigrants

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Authors: Tomasz Robert Kuczerski

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The high complexity of the algorithm of the autonomous tandem detonator system creates an optimization problem due to the parallel operation of several machine states of the system. Many years of experience and classic analyses have led to a partially optimized model. Limitations on the energy resources of this class of autonomous systems make it necessary to search for more effective methods of optimisation. The use of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) in these studies shows the most promising results. With the help of multiple evaluations of several qubit quantum circuits, proper results of variable parameter optimization were obtained. In addition, it was observed that the increase in the number of assessments does not result in further efficient growth due to the increasing complexity of optimising variables. The tests confirmed the effectiveness of the QAOA optimization method.

Keywords: algorithm analysis, autonomous system, quantum optimization, tandem detonator

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Authors: Taehyun Kim

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As a result of rapid urbanization, energy demands for lighting, heating and cooling of households have been concentrated in metropolitan areas. The energy resources for housing in urban areas are dominantly fossil fuel whose uses contribute to increase cost of living and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. To achieve environmentally and economically sustainable residential development, it is important to know how energy use and cost of living can be reduced by planning and design. The purpose of this study is to examine which type of building requires less energy for housing. To do so, carbon footprint (CF) quiz survey was employed which estimates the amount of carbon dioxide required to support households’ consumption of energy uses for housing. The housing carbon footprints (HCF) of 500 households of Seoul, Korea in summer and winter were estimated and compared in three major types of housing: single-family (detached), row-house and apartment. In addition, its differences of HCF were estimated between tower and flat type of apartment. The results of T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) provide statistical evidence that housing type is related to housing energy use. Average HCF of detached house was higher than other housing types. Between two types of apartment, tower type shows higher HCF than flat type in winter. These findings may provide new perspectives on CF application in sustainable architecture and urban design.

Keywords: analysis of variance, carbon footprint, energy use, housing type

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Authors: Mohammad Abotalib, Hamid Alhamadi

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In Kuwait, electricity is generated from two primary sources that are heavy fuel combustion and natural gas combustion. As Kuwait relies mainly on petroleum-based products for electricity generation, identifying and understanding the environmental trade-off of such operations should be carefully investigated. The life cycle assessment (LCA) tool is applied to identify the potential environmental impact of electricity generation under three scenarios by considering the material flow in various stages involved, such as raw-material extraction, transportation, operations, and waste disposal. The three scenarios investigated represent current and futuristic electricity grid mixes. The analysis targets six environmental impact categories: (1) global warming potential (GWP), (2) acidification potential (AP), (3) water depletion (WD), (4) acidification potential (AP), (4) eutrophication potential (EP), (5) human health particulate matter (HHPM), and (6) smog air (SA) per one kWh of electricity generated. Results indicate that one kWh of electricity generated would have a GWP (881-1030) g CO₂-eq, mainly from the fuel combustion process, water depletion (0.07-0.1) m³ of water, about 68% from cooling processes, AP (15.3-17.9) g SO₂-eq, EP (0.12-0.14) g N eq., HHPA (1.13- 1.33)g PM₂.₅ eq., and SA (64.8-75.8) g O₃ eq. The variation in results depend on the scenario investigated. It can be observed from the analysis that introducing solar photovoltaic and wind to the electricity grid mix improves the performance of scenarios 2 and 3 where 15% of the electricity comes from renewables correspond to a further decrease in LCA results.

Keywords: energy, functional uni, global warming potential, life cycle assessment, energy, functional unit

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Authors: Gyongyver Csapo, Andrea Czibor

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Machiavellianism is a personality trait based on the exploitation and deception of others. Machiavellian individuals are motivated to gain and to maintain power with the help of their strategic thinking, manipulation tactics, and interpersonal skills. Consequently, Machiavellianism is treated as a personality trait that can affect an individual’s career and work-related behavior. The aim of our research is to provide a narrative psychological approach to Machiavellianism in order to get a more comprehensive picture about the attitudes, values, and work-related behaviors of Machiavellian individuals. In this study, semi-structured interviews were made with employees (N=275) about their work-related experiences. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires about their turnover intention and perceived stress. The interviews were examined with narrative psychological content analysis and thematic analyzes. Based on the thematic analysis, mentioning of two topics (recognition at work and control) were associated with Machiavellianism. Scientific narrative psychological content analysis showed a negative association between Machiavellianism and positive emotions. Turnover intention and the magnitude of perceived work-related stress showed a significant positive correlation with Machiavellianism. In this study, qualitative and quantitative methodologies were combined in order to get a deeper insight of Machiavellianism from an organizational psychological perspective. Our research can contribute to a better understanding of this personality trait and provides an excellent basis for further investigations.

Keywords: machiavellianism, narrative psychology, turnover intention, work-related stress

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Authors: V. C. Igwemezie, A. N. Mehmanparast

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The primary focus of this work is to understand how variations in the microstructure and cyclic waveform affect the corrosion fatigue crack growth (CFCG) in steel, especially in the Paris region of the da/dN vs. ΔK curve. This work is important because it provides fundamental information on the modelling, design, selection, and use of steels for various engineering applications in the marine environment. The corrosion fatigue tests data on normalized and thermomechanical control process (TMCP) ferritic-pearlitic steels by the authors were compared with several studies on different microstructures in the literature. The microstructures of these steels are radically different and general comparative fatigue crack growth resistance performance study on the effect of microstructure in these materials are very scarce and where available are limited to few studies. The results, for purposes of engineering application, in this study show less dependency of fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) on yield strength, tensile strength, ductility, frequency and stress ratio in the range 0.1 – 0.7. The nature of the steel microstructure appears to be a major factor in determining the rate at which fatigue cracks propagate in the entire da/dN vs. ΔK sigmoidal curve. The study also shows that the sine wave shape is the most damaging fatigue waveform for ferritic-pearlitic steels. This tends to suggest that the test under sine waveform would be a conservative approach, regardless of the waveform for design of engineering structures.

Keywords: BS7910, corrosion-fatigue crack growth rate, cyclic waveform, microstructure, steel

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Authors: Alicja Kot-Niewiadomska

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Securing sustainable access to raw materials is vital for the growth of the European economy and for the goals laid down in Strategy Europe 2020. One of the most important sources of mineral raw materials are primary deposits. The efficient management of them, including extraction, will ensure competitiveness of the European economy. A critical element of this approach is mineral deposits safeguarding and the most important tool - spatial planning. The safeguarding of deposits should be understood as safeguarding of land access, and safeguarding of area against development, which may (potential) prevent the use of the deposit and the necessary mining activities. Many European Union countries successfully integrated their mineral policy and spatial policy, which has ensured the proper place of mineral deposits in their spatial planning systems. These, in turn, are widely recognized as the most important mineral deposit safeguarding tool, the essence of which is to ensure long-term access to its resources. The examples of Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, discussed in the paper, are often mentioned as examples of good practices in this area. Although none of these countries managed to avoid cases of social and environmental conflicts related to mining activities, the solutions they implement certainly deserve special attention. And for many countries, including Poland, they can be a potential source of solutions aimed at improving the protection of mineral deposits.

Keywords: mineral deposits, land use planning, mineral deposit safeguarding, European practices

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Authors: M. Pieńko, A. Robak, E. Błazik-Borowa, J. Szer

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This paper presents the results of analysis of 100 full-scale scaffolding structures in terms of compliance with legal acts and safety of use. In 2016 and 2017, authors examined scaffolds in Poland located at buildings which were at construction or renovation stage. The basic elements affecting the safety of scaffolding use such as anchors, supports, platforms, guardrails and toe-boards have been taken into account. All of these elements were checked in each of considered scaffolding. Based on the analyzed scaffoldings, the most common errors concerning assembly process and use of scaffolding were collected. Legal acts on the scaffoldings are not always clear, and this causes many issues. In practice, people realize how dangerous the use of incomplete scaffolds is only when the accident occurs. Despite the fact that the scaffolding should ensure the safety of its users, most accidents on construction sites are caused by fall from a height.

Keywords: façade scaffolds, load capacity, practice, safety of people

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Authors: N. Benmebarek, F. Berrabah, S. Benmebarek

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This paper is interested by numerical analysis using PLAXIS code of geosynthetic reinforced embankment crossing a section about 11 km on sabkha soil of Chott El Hodna in Algeria. The site observations indicated that the surface soil of this sabkha is very sensitive to moisture and complicated by the presence of locally weak zones. Therefore, serious difficulties were encountered during building the first embankment layer. This paper focuses on the use of geosynthetic to mitigate the difficulty encountered. Due to the absence of an accepted design methods, parametric studies are carried out to assess the effect of basal embankment reinforcement on both the bearing capacity and compaction conditions. The results showed the contribution conditions of geosynthetics to improve the bearing capacity of sabkha soil.

Keywords: reinforced embankment, numerical modelling, geosynthetics, weak bearing capacity

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Authors: Chien-Kuo Chang, You-Syuan Wu, Min-Chiu Wu, Bharath-Kumar Boyanapalli

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The electrical treeing mechanism in epoxy resin insulation is a critical area of study concerning the degradation of high-voltage electrical equipment. In this study, we conducted pressure-induced degradation experiments on epoxy resin specimens using a needle-plane electrode structure to simulate electrical treeing. The specimens featured two different defect spacings, allowing for detailed observation facilitated by time-lapse photography. Our investigation revealed four distinct stages of insulation degradation: initial dark tree growth, filamentary tree growth, reverse tree growth, and eventual insulation breakdown. The initial dark treeing stage, though shortest in duration, exhibited a thicker main branch and shorter branching, ceasing upon the appearance of filamentary treeing. Filamentary treeing manifested in two forms: dark filamentary treeing during the resin's glassy state, characterized by branching structures, and fuzzy filamentary treeing during the rubbery state, resembling white feathers. The channels formed by filamentary treeing were observed to be as narrow as a few micrometers and continued to grow until the end of the experiment. Additionally, the transition to reverse treeing occurred when filamentary treeing reached the ground electrode, with the earliest manifestation being growth from the ground electrode towards the high-voltage end.

Keywords: epoxy resin insulation, high-voltage equipment, electrical treeing mechanism

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Authors: Paúl I. Cornejo

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The elastic energy released through Strombolian explosions has been quite studied, detailing various processes, sources, and precursory events at several volcanoes. We realized an analysis based on the relative partitioning of the elastic energy radiated into the atmosphere and ground by Strombolian-type explosions recorded at El Reventador volcano, using infrasound and seismic signals at high and moderate seismicity episodes during intense eruptive stages of explosive and effusive activity. Our results show that considerable values of Volcano Acoustic-Seismic Ratio (VASR or η) are obtained at high seismicity stages. VASR is a physical diagnostic of explosive degassing that we used to compare eruption mechanisms at El Reventador volcano for two datasets of explosions recorded at a Broad-Band BB seismic and infrasonic station located at ~5 kilometers from the vent. We conclude that the acoustic energy EA released during explosive activity (VASR η = 0.47, standard deviation σ = 0.8) is higher than the EA released during effusive activity; therefore, producing the highest values of η. Furthermore, we realized the analysis and characterization of the eruptive intensity for two episodes at high seismicity, calculating a η three-time higher for an episode of effusive activity with an occasional explosive component (η = 0.32, and σ = 0.42), than a η for an episode of only effusive activity (η = 0.11, and σ = 0.18), but more energetic.

Keywords: effusive, explosion quakes, explosive, Strombolian, VASR

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Authors: M. Suwaibah, S. W. Tan, I. Aiini, K. Yusoff, A. R. Omar

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Respiratory diseases are the most important infectious diseases affecting poultry worldwide. One of the avian respiratory virus of global importance causing significant economic losses is Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV). The virus causes a wide spectrum disease known as Infectious Bronchitis (IB), affecting not only the respiratory system but also the kidney and the reproductive system, depending on its strain. IB and Newcastle disease are two of the most prevalent diseases affecting poultry in Malaysia. However, a study on the molecular characterization of Malaysian IBV is lacking. In this study, an IBV strain IBS130 which was isolated in 2015 was fully sequenced using next-gene sequencing approach. Sequence analysis of IBS130 based on the complete genome, polyprotein 1ab and S1 genes were compared with other IBV sequences available in Genbank, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). IBV strain IBS130 is characterised as QX-like strain based on whole genome and S1 gene sequence analysis. Comparisons of the virus with other IBV strains showed that the nucleotide identity ranged from 67% to 99.2%, depending on the region analysed. The similarity in whole genome nucleotide ranging from 84.9% to 90.7% with the least similar was from Singapore strains (84.9%) and highly similar with China QX-like strains. Meanwhile, the similarity in polyprotein 1ab ranging from 85.3% to 89.9% with the least similar to Singapore strains (85.3%) and highly similar with Mass strains from USA.

Keywords: infectious bronchitis virus, phylogenetic analysis, chicken, Malaysia

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Authors: Takashi Sakai, Itaru Kumisawa

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

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

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Authors: Lauren Provost

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The digital world remains increasingly vulnerable, making the development of effective cybersecurity approaches even more critical in supporting the success of the digital economy and national security. Although approaches to cybersecurity have shifted and improved in the last decade with new models, especially with cloud computing and mobility, a record number of high severity vulnerabilities were recorded in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and its National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in 2020. This is due, in part, to the increasing complexity of cyber ecosystems. Security must be approached with a more comprehensive, multi-tool strategy that addresses the complexity of cyber ecosystems, including the human factor. Ethical hacking has emerged as such an approach: a more effective, multi-strategy, comprehensive approach to cyber security's most pressing needs, especially understanding the human factor. Research on ethical hacking, however, is limited in scope. The two main objectives of this work are to (1) provide highlights of case studies in ethical hacking, (2) provide a conceptual framework for research in ethical hacking that embraces and addresses both technical and nontechnical security measures. Recommendations include an improved conceptual framework for research centered on ethical hacking that addresses many factors and attributes of significant attacks that threaten computer security; a more robust, integrative multi-layered framework embracing the complexity of cybersecurity ecosystems.

Keywords: ethical hacking, literature review, penetration testing, social engineering

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Authors: Abdulaziz Alsadhan, Naveed Khan

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In recent years intrusions on computer network are the major security threat. Hence, it is important to impede such intrusions. The hindrance of such intrusions entirely relies on its detection, which is primary concern of any security tool like Intrusion Detection System (IDS). Therefore, it is imperative to accurately detect network attack. Numerous intrusion detection techniques are available but the main issue is their performance. The performance of IDS can be improved by increasing the accurate detection rate and reducing false positive. The existing intrusion detection techniques have the limitation of usage of raw data set for classification. The classifier may get jumble due to redundancy, which results incorrect classification. To minimize this problem, Principle Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) can be applied to transform raw features into principle features space and select the features based on their sensitivity. Eigen values can be used to determine the sensitivity. To further classify, the selected features greedy search, back elimination, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) can be used to obtain a subset of features with optimal sensitivity and highest discriminatory power. These optimal feature subset used to perform classification. For classification purpose, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) used due to its proven ability in classification. The Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD’99) cup dataset was considered as a benchmark for evaluating security detection mechanisms. The proposed approach can provide an optimal intrusion detection mechanism that outperforms the existing approaches and has the capability to minimize the number of features and maximize the detection rates.

Keywords: Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Principle Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Local Binary Pattern (LBP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP)

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Authors: Robert van Ling, Alexander Schwahn, Shanhua Lin, Ken Cook, Frank Steiner, Rowan Moore, Mauro de Pra

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Purpose: Demonstration of fast high resolution charge variant analysis for monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutics within 5 minutes. Methods: Three commercially available mAbs were used for all experiments. The charge variants of therapeutic mAbs (Bevacizumab, Cetuximab, Infliximab, and Trastuzumab) are analyzed on a strong cation exchange column with a linear pH gradient separation method. The linear gradient from pH 5.6 to pH 10.2 is generated over time by running a linear pump gradient from 100% Thermo Scientific™ CX-1 pH Gradient Buffer A (pH 5.6) to 100% CX-1 pH Gradient Buffer B (pH 10.2), using the Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ UHPLC system. Results: The pH gradient method is generally applicable to monoclonal antibody charge variant analysis. In conjunction with state-of-the-art column and UHPLC technology, ultra fast high-resolution separations are consistently achieved in under 5 minutes for all mAbs analyzed. Conclusion: The linear pH gradient method is a platform method for mAb charge variant analysis. The linear pH gradient method can be easily optimized to improve separations and shorten cycle times. Ultra-fast charge variant separation is facilitated with UHPLC that complements, and in some instances outperforms CE approaches in terms of both resolution and throughput.

Keywords: charge variants, ion exchange chromatography, monoclonal antibody, UHPLC

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Authors: S. Sharma, U. Batra, S. Kapoor, A. Dua

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In this study, the effects and interactions of reaction time and capping agent assistance during sol-gel synthesis of magnesium substituted hydroxyapatite nanopowder (MgHA) on hydroxyapatite (HA) to β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ratio, Ca/P ratio and mean crystallite size was examined experimentally as well as through statistical analysis. MgHA nanopowders were synthesized by sol-gel technique at room temperature using aqueous solution of calcium nitrate tetrahydrate, magnesium nitrate hexahydrate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate as starting materials. The reaction time for sol-gel synthesis was varied between 15 to 60 minutes. Two process routes were followed with and without addition of triethanolamine (TEA) in the solutions. The elemental compositions of as-synthesized powders were determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. The functional groups present in the as-synthesized MgHA nanopowders were established through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The amounts of phases present, Ca/P ratio and mean crystallite sizes of MgHA nanopowders were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The HA content in biphasic mixture of HA and β-TCP and Ca/P ratio in as-synthesized MgHA nanopowders increased effectively with reaction time of sols (p < 0.0001, two way Anova), however, these were independent of TEA addition (p > 0.15, two way Anova). The MgHA nanopowders synthesized with TEA assistance exhibited 14 nm lower crystallite size (p < 0.018, 2 sample t-test) compared to the powder synthesized without TEA assistance.

Keywords: capping agent, hydroxyapatite, regression analysis, sol-gel, 2- sample t-test, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)

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Authors: Sun Gang

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A variety of functional spaces are distributed on the vast mountain waterfront. Their functional positioning presents a spontaneous form of settlement space, and the construction features show a passive impact on the natural environment. As the precious heritage of inheriting human civilization and promoting historical culture, the traditional settlement space in mountainous areas is also the local expression of landscape pattern pattern gene. Under the impact of rapid urban construction and the stimulation of the transformation of social consumption demand, the original texture, scale and ecology of the traditional mountain settlement space, especially the historical and cultural settlement space, have been affected, and the decline of characteristics hinders the development. This paper selects Anju Ancient Town, the fourth largest ancient city in China, which is located in the city of mountains and waters as the research object, and combines spatial analysis and other methods to study the characteristics and causes of its spatial morphology, analyze the internal logic in its formation and development process, build a genetic analysis map, explore the possibility of settlement inheritance and development, and provide reference for the construction, protection and inheritance of traditional mountain settlements.

Keywords: mountain traditional settlement, historical and cultural settlement space, spatial form, spatial gene

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Authors: Hamed Hosseinkazemi, Esmaeil Biazar

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For tissue engineering of bone, anatomical and operational reconstructions of damaged tissue seem to be vital. This is done via reconstruction of bone and appropriate biological joint with bone tissues of damaged areas. In this study the condition of biodegradable bed Nanofibrous PHBV and USSC cells were used to accelerate bone repair of damaged area. Hollow nanofabrication scaffold of damageable life was designed as PHBV by electrospinning and via determining the best factors such as the kind and amount of solvent, specific volume and rate. The separation of osseous tissue infiltration and evaluating its nature by flow cytometrocical analysis was done. Animal test including USSC as well as PHBV condition in the damaged bone was done in the rat. After 8 weeks the implanted area was analyzed using CT scan and was sent to histopathology ward. Finally, the rate and quality of reconstruction were determined after H and E coloring. Histomorphic analysis indicated a statistically significant difference between the experimental group of PHBV, USSC+PHBV and control group. Besides, the histopathologic analysis showed that bone reconstruction rate was high in the area containing USSC and PHBV, compared with area having PHBV and control group and consequently the reconstruction quality of bones and the relationship between the new bone tissues and surrounding bone tissues were high too. Using PHBR scaffold and USSC together could be useful in the amending of wide range of bone lesion.

Keywords: bone lesion, nanofibrous PHBV, stem cells, umbilical cord blood

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Authors: Jagdish S. Patel, Piyush Chudasama

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Context: Over-expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) plays critical role in absorption of many drug candidates which results into lower bioavailability of the drug. P-glycoprotein also over expresses in many pathological conditions like diabetes, affecting the drug therapy. Modulation of P-gp expression using inhibitors can help in designing novel formulation enhancing the bioavailability of the drug in question. Objectives: The main focus of the study was to develop advanced glycation end products (AGEs) induced P-gp over expression in Caco-2 cells. Curcumin, piperine and epigallocatechin gallate were used to evaluate their P-gp inhibitory action using combinatorial approach. Materials and methods: Methylglyoxal (MG) induced P-gp over expression was checked in Caco-2 cells using real time PCR. P-gp inhibitory effects of the phytochemicals were measured after induction with MG alone and in combination of any two compounds. Cytotoxicity of each of the phytochemical was evaluated using MTT assay. Results: Induction with MG (100mM) significantly induced the over expression of P-glycoprotein in Caco-2 cells after 24 hr. Curcumin, piperine and epigallocatechin gallate alone significantly reduced the level of P-gp within 6 hr of treatment period monitored by real time PCR. The combination of any two phytochemical also down regulated the expression of P-gp in cells. Combinations of Curcumin and epigallocatechin gallate have shown significant down regulation when compared with other two combinations. Conclusions: Combinatorial approach for down regulating the expression of P-gp, in pathological conditions like diabetes, has demonstrated promising approach for therapeutic purpose.

Keywords: p-glycoprotein, curcumin, piperine, epigallocatechin gallate, p-gp inhibition

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Authors: Mirko Sailio

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Border crossing automatization reduces required human resources in handling people crossing borders. As technology replaces and augments the work done by border officers, new cyber threats arise to threaten border security. This research analyses the current cyber threat actors and their capabilities. The analysis is conducted by gathering the threat actor data from a wide range of public sources. A model for a general border automatization system is presented, and its most significant cyber-security attributes are then compared to threat actor activity and capabilities in order to predict priorities in securing such systems. Organized crime and nation-state actors present the clearest threat to border cyber-security, and additional focus is given to their motivations and activities.

Keywords: border automation, cyber-security, threat actors, border cyber-security

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Authors: A. Ras, I. Nait Zerrad, N. Benmouna, N. Boumechra

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Use of base isolators in the seismic design of structures has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The major concern in the design of these structures is to have enough lateral stability to resist wind and seismic forces. There are different systems providing such isolation, among them there are friction- pendulum base isolation systems (FPS) which are rather widely applied nowadays involving to both affordable cost and high fundamental periods. These devices are characterised by a stiff resistance against wind loads and to be flexible to the seismic tremors, which make them suitable for different situations. In this paper, a 3D numerical investigation is done considering the seismic response of a twelve-storey steel building retrofitted with a FPS. Fast nonlinear time history analysis (FNA) of Boumerdes earthquake (Algeria, May 2003) is considered for analysis and carried out using SAP2000 software. Comparisons between fixed base, bearing base isolated and braced structures are shown in a tabulated and graphical format. The results of the various alternatives studies to compare the structural response without and with this device of dissipation energy thus obtained were discussed and the conclusions showed the interesting potential of the FPS isolator. This system may to improve the dissipative capacities of the structure without increasing its rigidity in a significant way which contributes to optimize the quantity of steel necessary for its general stability.

Keywords: energy dissipation, friction-pendulum system, nonlinear analysis, steel structure

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Authors: Nurdiana Gaus, Mahmud Tang

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This paper analyses changes being experienced by academics in Indonesian state university systems as a result of government-driven policy and the impacts of these changes on academics work and organisations. This analysis is located in the main concept of neoliberal agenda with its associated discourse of New Public Management. The purpose of this analysis is to show how public administrative reforms adopting neoliberal agenda have been disseminated in Indonesian higher education reform via policies and programmes of the government. This essay is expected to clarify the concept of neoliberalism in the administrative reforms within higher education institutions by examining and understanding its implementation in Indonesian context and how this impacted on the structural changes in universities and academics work.

Keywords: neoliberalism, higher education, Indonesia, new public management

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Authors: Ahmed S. Elamary

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Ultimate shear resistance (USR) of slender plate girders can be predicted theoretically using Cardiff theory or Hӧglund theory. This paper will be concerned with predicting the USR using Hӧglund theory and EC3. Two main factors can affect the USR, the panel width “b” and the web depth “d”, consequently, the panel aspect ratio (b/d) has to be identified by limits. In most of the previous study, there is no limit for panel aspect ratio indicated. In this paper theoretical analysis has been conducted to study the effect of (b/d) on the USR. The analysis based on ninety-six test results of steel plate girders subjected to shear executed and collected by others. New formula proposed to predict the percentage of the distance between the plastic hinges form in the flanges “c” to panel width “b”. Conservative limits of (c/b) have been suggested to get a consistent value of USR.

Keywords: ultimate shear resistance, plate girder, Hӧglund’s theory, EC3

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Authors: L. J. Díaz, M. A. Hernández, A. K. Molina, A. Bermúdez, C. Crane, V. M. Pabón

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One of the most important biological indicators that show the exposure to the radiation is the micronuclei (MN). This technique is using to determinate the radiation effects in blood cultures as a biological control and a complement to the physics dosimetry. In Colombia the necessity to apply this analysis has emerged due to the current biological indicator most used is the chromosomal aberrations (CA), that is why it is essential the MN technique’s standardization and validation to have enough tools to improve the radioprotection topic in the country. Besides, this technique will be applied on the construction of a dose-response curve, that allow measure an approximately dose to irradiated people according to MN frequency found. Inside the steps that carried out to accomplish the standardization and validation is the statistic analysis from the lectures of “in vitro” peripheral blood cultures with different analysts, also it was determinate the best culture medium and conditions for the MN can be detected easily.

Keywords: micronuclei, radioprotection, standardization, validation

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Authors: Norbert Magyar, Jozsef Kovacs, Peter Tanos, Balazs Trasy, Tamas Garamhegyi, Istvan Gabor Hatvani

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Water is one of the most important common resources, and as a result of urbanization, agriculture, and industry it is becoming more and more exposed to potential pollutants. The prevention of the deterioration of water quality is a crucial role for environmental scientist. To achieve this aim, the operation of monitoring networks is necessary. In general, these networks have to meet many important requirements, such as representativeness and cost efficiency. However, existing monitoring networks often include sampling sites which are unnecessary. With the elimination of these sites the monitoring network can be optimized, and it can operate more economically. The aim of this study is to illustrate the applicability of the CCDA (Combined Cluster and Discriminant Analysis) to the field of water quality monitoring and optimize the monitoring networks of a river (the Danube), a wetland-lake system (Kis-Balaton & Lake Balaton), and two surface-subsurface water systems on the watershed of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő and on the Szigetköz area over a period of approximately two decades. CCDA combines two multivariate data analysis methods: hierarchical cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis. Its goal is to determine homogeneous groups of observations, in our case sampling sites, by comparing the goodness of preconceived classifications obtained from hierarchical cluster analysis with random classifications. The main idea behind CCDA is that if the ratio of correctly classified cases for a grouping is higher than at least 95% of the ratios for the random classifications, then at the level of significance (α=0.05) the given sampling sites don’t form a homogeneous group. Due to the fact that the sampling on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő was conducted at the same time at all sampling sites, it was possible to visualize the differences between the sampling sites belonging to the same or different groups on scatterplots. Based on the results, the monitoring network of the Danube yields redundant information over certain sections, so that of 12 sampling sites, 3 could be eliminated without loss of information. In the case of the wetland (Kis-Balaton) one pair of sampling sites out of 12, and in the case of Lake Balaton, 5 out of 10 could be discarded. For the groundwater system of the catchment area of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő all 50 monitoring wells are necessary, there is no redundant information in the system. The number of the sampling sites on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő can decrease to approximately the half of the original number of the sites. Furthermore, neighbouring sampling sites were compared pairwise using CCDA and the results were plotted on diagrams or isoline maps showing the location of the greatest differences. These results can help researchers decide where to place new sampling sites. The application of CCDA proved to be a useful tool in the optimization of the monitoring networks regarding different types of water bodies. Based on the results obtained, the monitoring networks can be operated more economically.

Keywords: combined cluster and discriminant analysis, cost efficiency, monitoring network optimization, water quality

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Authors: Wenwen Lei, David R. Mckenzie

Abstract:

Recent findings of anomalously high gas flow rates in carbon nanotubes show smooth hydrophobic walls can increase specular reflection of molecules and reduce the tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC). Here we report the first measurements of water vapor flows in microtubes over a wide humidity range and show that for hydrophobic silica there is a range of humidity over which an adsorbed water layer reduces TMAC and accelerates flow. Our results show that this association between hydrophobicity and accelerated moisture flow occurs in readily available materials. We develop a hierarchical theory that unifies Maxwell’s ideas on TMAC with Langmuir’s ideas on adsorption. We fit the TMAC data as a function of humidity with the hierarchical theory based on two stages of Langmuir adsorption and derive total adsorption isotherms for water on hydrophobic silica that agree with direct observations. We propose structures for each stage of the water adsorption, the first reducing TMAC by a passivation of adsorptive patches and a smoothing of the surface, the second resembling bulk water with large TMAC. We find that leak testing of moisture barriers with an ideal gas such as helium may not be accurate enough for critical applications and that direct measurements of the water leak rate should be made.

Keywords: water vapor flows, silica microtubes, TMAC, enhanced flow rates

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Authors: Argaw T. Gurmu, Muhammad N. Mahmood

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to identify the architecture and construction management students’ learning challenges of the building measurement. This research used the survey data obtained collected from the students who completed the building measurement unit. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used to identify relevant themes. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed the major learning difficulties such as inadequacy of practice questions for the examination, inability to work as a team, lack of detailed understanding of the prerequisite units, insufficiency of the time allocated for tutorials and incompatibility of lecture and tutorial schedules. The output of this research can be used as a basis for improving the teaching and learning activities in construction measurement units.

Keywords: building measurement, construction management, learning challenges, evaluate survey

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Anas Alsuhaibani

Abstract:

Observing debate and discussion over social media has been found to be a promising tool to investigate different types of opinion. On 23 June 2016, Brexit voters in the UK decided to depart from the EU, with 51.9% voting to leave. On Twitter, there had been a massive debate in this context, and the hashtag Brexit was allocated as number six of the most tweeted hashtags across the globe in 2016. The study aimed to investigate the sentiment and themes expressed in a sample of tweets during a political event (Brexit) in 2016. A sentiment and thematic analysis was conducted on 1304 randomly selected tweets tagged with the hashtag Brexit in Twitter for the period from 10 June 2016 to 7 July 2016. The data were coded manually into two code frames, sentiment and thematic, and the reliability of coding was assessed for both codes. The sentiment analysis of the selected sample found that 45.63% of tweets conveyed negative emotions while there were only 10.43% conveyed positive emotions. It also surprisingly resulted that 29.37% were factual tweets, where the tweeter expressed no sentiment and the tweet conveyed a fact. For the thematic analysis, the economic theme dominated by 23.41%, and almost half of its discussion was related to business within the UK and the UK and global stock markets. The study reported that the current UK government and relation to campaign themes were the most negative themes. Both sentiment and thematic analyses found that tweets with more than one opinion or theme were rare, 8.29% and 6.13%, respectively.

Keywords: Brexit, political opinion mining, social media, twitter

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Chaitanya R. Mali, V. Vinod, Ashwin W. Patwardhan

Abstract:

Design of long vertical steam generator (SG) tubes in nuclear power plant involves an understanding of different aspects of flow boiling phenomenon such as flow instabilities, flow regimes, dry out, critical heat flux, pressure drop, etc. The knowledge of the prediction of local thermal hydraulic characteristics is necessary to understand these aspects. For this purpose, the methodology has been developed which covers all the flow boiling regimes to model full range flow boiling phenomenon. In this methodology, the vertical tube is divided into four sections based on vapor fraction value at the end of each section. Different modeling strategies have been applied to the different sections of the vertical tube. Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been performed on a vertical SG tube of 0.0126 m inner diameter and 23 m length. The thermal hydraulic parameters such as vapor fraction, liquid temperature, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, heat flux distribution have been analyzed for different designed heat duties (1.1 MW (20%) to 3.3 MW (60%)) and flow conditions (10 % to 80 %). The sensitivity of different boiling parameters such as bubble departure diameter, nucleation site density, bubble departure frequency on the thermal hydraulic parameters was also studied. Flow instability has been observed at 20 % designed heat duty and 20 % flow conditions.

Keywords: thermal hydraulics, boiling, vapor fraction, sensitivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 141