Search results for: robust back-‎stepping control

Authors: Byeongju Choi, Sanggil Lee, Kyung-Eun Lee

Abstract:

Introduction: In the republic of Korea, the number of workers in the beauty industry has been increasing. Because the prevalence of hepatitis B carriers in Korea is higher than in other countries, the risk of blood-borne infection including viral hepatitis B and C, among the workers by using the sharp and contaminated instruments during procedure can be expected among beauty salon workers. However, the health care policies for the workers to prevent the blood-borne infection are not established due to the lack of evidences. Moreover, the workers in hair and nail salon were mostly employed at small businesses, where national mandatory systems or policies for workers’ health management are not applied. In this study, the risk of the viral hepatitis B and C from the job experiencing the hair and nail procedures in the mortality was assessed. Method: We conducted a retrospective review of the job histories and causes of death in the female deaths from 2006-2016. 132,744 of female deaths who had one more job experiences during their lifetime were included in this study. Job histories were assessed using the employment insurance database in Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) and the causes of death were in death statistics produced by Statistics Korea. Case group (n= 666) who died from viral hepatitis was classified the death having record involved in ‘B15-B19’ as a cause of deaths based on Korean Standard Classification of Diseases(KCD) with the deaths from other causes, control group (n=132,078). The group of the workers in the beauty service industry were defined as the employees who had ever worked in the industry coded as ‘9611’ based on Korea Standard Industry Classification (KSIC) and others were others. Other than job histories, birth year, marital status, education level were investigated from the death statistics. Multiple logistic regression analysis were used to assess the risk of deaths from viral hepatitis in the case and control group. Result: The number of the deaths having ever job experiences at the hair and nail salon was 255. After adjusting confounders of age, marital status and education, the odds ratio(OR) for deaths from viral hepatitis was quite high in the group having experiences with working in the beauty service industry with 3.14(95% confidence interval(CI) 1.00-9.87). Other associated factors with increasing the risk of deaths from viral hepatitis were low education level(OR=1.34, 95% CI 1.04-1.73), married women (OR=1.42, 95% CI 1.02-1.97). Conclusion: The risk of deaths from viral hepatitis were high in the workers in the beauty service industry but not statistically significant, which might attributed from the small number of workers in beauty service industry. It was likely that the number of workers in beauty service industry could be underestimated due to their temporary job position. Further studies evaluating the status and the incidence of viral infection among the workers with consideration of the vertical transmission would be required.

Keywords: beauty service, viral hepatitis, blood-borne infection, viral infection

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Georgi Y. Georgiev, Matthew Brouillet

Abstract:

This research applies the power of agent-based modeling to a pivotal question at the intersection of biology, computer science, physics, and complex systems theory about the self-organization processes in open, complex, non-equilibrium thermodynamic systems. Central to this investigation is the principle of Maximum Entropy Production (MEP). This principle suggests that such systems evolve toward states that optimize entropy production, leading to the formation of structured environments. It is hypothesized that guided by the least action principle, open thermodynamic systems identify and follow the shortest paths to transmit energy and matter, resulting in maximal entropy production, internal structure formation, and a decrease in internal entropy. Concurrently, it is predicted that there will be an increase in system information as more information is required to describe the developing structure. To test this, an agent-based model is developed simulating an ant colony's formation of a path between a food source and its nest. Utilizing the Netlogo software for modeling and Python for data analysis and visualization, self-organization is quantified by calculating the decrease in system entropy based on the potential states and distribution of the ants within the simulated environment. External entropy production is also evaluated for information increase and efficiency improvements in the system's action. Simulations demonstrated that the system begins at maximal entropy, which decreases as the ants form paths over time. A range of system behaviors contingent upon the number of ants are observed. Notably, no path formation occurred with fewer than five ants, whereas clear paths were established by 200 ants, and saturation of path formation and entropy state was reached at populations exceeding 1000 ants. This analytical approach identified the inflection point marking the transition from disorder to order and computed the slope at this point. Combined with extrapolation to the final path entropy, these parameters yield important insights into the eventual entropy state of the system and the timeframe for its establishment, enabling the estimation of the self-organization rate. This study provides a novel perspective on the exploration of self-organization in thermodynamic systems, establishing a correlation between internal entropy decrease rate and external entropy production rate. Moreover, it presents a flexible framework for assessing the impact of external factors like changes in world size, path obstacles, and friction. Overall, this research offers a robust, replicable model for studying self-organization processes in any open thermodynamic system. As such, it provides a foundation for further in-depth exploration of the complex behaviors of these systems and contributes to the development of more efficient self-organizing systems across various scientific fields.

Keywords: complexity, self-organization, agent based modelling, efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Gilda Santos, Rita Marques, Francisca Marques, João Ribeiro, André Fonseca, João M. Miranda, João B. L. M. Campos, Soraia F. Neves

Abstract:

Every year, an unacceptable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their life. Although thermal protective clothing research and development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters heat load and skin burns, currently commercially available solutions focus in solving isolated problems, for example, radiant heat or water-vapor resistance. Therefore, episodes of severe burns and heat strokes are still frequent. Taking this into account, a consortium composed by Portuguese entities has joined synergies to develop an innovative protective clothing system by following a procedure based on the application of numerical models to optimize the design and using a combinationof protective clothing components disposed in different layers. Recently, it has been shown that Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can contribute to the reduction of potential heat hazards in fire extinguish operations, and consequently, their incorporation into firefighting protective clothing has advantages. The greatest challenge is to integrate these materials without compromising garments ergonomics and, at the same time, accomplishing the International Standard of protective clothing for firefighters – laboratory test methods and performance requirements for wildland firefighting clothing. The incorporation of PCMs into the firefighter's protective jacket will result in the absorption of heat from the fire and consequently increase the time that the firefighter can be exposed to it. According to the project studies and developments, to favor a higher use of the PCM storage capacityand to take advantage of its high thermal inertia more efficiently, the PCM layer should be closer to the external heat source. Therefore, in this stage, to integrate PCMs in firefighting clothing, a mock-up of a vest specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) and to be worn over a fire-resistant jacketwas envisaged. Different configurations of PCMs, as well as multilayer approaches, were studied using suitable joining technologies such as bonding, ultrasound, and radiofrequency. Concerning firefighter’s protective clothing, it is important to balance heat protection and flame resistance with comfort parameters, namely, thermaland water-vapor resistances. The impact of the most promising solutions regarding thermal comfort was evaluated to refine the performance of the global solutions. Results obtained with experimental bench scale model and numerical simulation regarding the integration of PCMs in a vest designed as protective clothing for firefighters will be presented.

Keywords: firefighters, multilayer system, phase change material, thermal protective clothing

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Kunihisa Kakumoto

Abstract:

“Purpose”: Global environmental issues are now being raised in a global dimension. By predicting sprawl phenomena beyond the limits of nature with algorithms, we can expect to protect our social life within the limits of nature. It turns out that the sustainable state of the planet now consists in maintaining a balance between the capabilities of nature and the possibilities of our social life. The amount of water on earth is finite. Sustainability is therefore highly dependent on water capacity. A certain amount of water is stored in the forest by planting and green space, and the amount of water can be considered in relation to the green space. CO2 is also absorbed by green plants. "Possible measurements and methods": The concept of the solar community has been introduced in technical papers on the occasion of many international conferences. The solar community concept is based on data collected from one solar model house. This algorithmic study simulates the amount of water stored by lush green vegetation. In addition, we calculated and compared the amount of CO2 emissions from the Taiyo Community and the amount of CO2 reduction from greening. Based on the trial calculation results of these solar communities, we are simulating the sustainable state of the earth as an algorithm trial calculation result. We believe that we should also consider the composition of this solar community group using digital technology as control technology. "Conclusion": We consider the solar community as a prototype for finding sustainable conditions for the planet. The role of water is very important as the supply capacity of water is limited. However, the circulation of social life is not constructed according to the mechanism of nature. This simulation trial calculation is explained using the total water supply volume as an example. According to this process, algorithmic calculations consider the total capacity of the water supply and the population and habitable numbers of the area. Green vegetated land is very important to keep enough water. Green vegetation is also very important to maintain CO2 balance. A simulation trial calculation is possible from the relationship between the CO2 emissions of the solar community and the amount of CO2 reduction due to greening. In order to find this total balance and sustainable conditions, the algorithmic simulation calculation takes into account lush vegetation and total water supply. Research to find sustainable conditions is done by simulating an algorithmic model of the solar community as a prototype. In this one prototype example, it's balanced. The activities of our social life must take place within the permissive limits of natural mechanisms. Of course, we aim for a more ideal balance by utilizing auxiliary digital control technology such as AI.

Keywords: solar community, sustainability, prototype, algorithmic simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Ankur Mehra, M. V. Shivaani

Abstract:

With increasing digitization, the world is coming closer, not only in terms of informational flow but also in terms of capital flows. And micro-finance institutions (MFIs) have perfectly leveraged this digital world by resorting to the innovative digital social peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, such as, Kiva. These digital P2P platforms bring together micro-borrowers and lenders from across the world. The main objective of this study is to understand the funding preferences of social investors primarily from developed countries (such as US, UK, Australia), lending money to borrowers from rural India at zero interest rates through Kiva. Further, the objective of this study is to increase awareness about such a platform among various MFIs engaged in providing micro-loans to those in need. The sample comprises of India based micro-loan applications posted by various MFIs on Kiva lending platform over the period Sept 2012-March 2016. Out of 7,359 loans, 256 loans failed to get funded by social investors. On an average a micro-loan with 30 days to expiry gets fully funded in 7,593 minutes or 5.27 days. 62% of the loans raised on Kiva are related to livelihood, 32.5% of the loans are for funding basic necessities and balance 5.5% loans are for funding education. 47% of the loan applications have more than one borrower; while, currency exchange risk is on the social lenders for 45% of the loans. Controlling for the loan amount and loan tenure, the analyses suggest that those loan applications where the number of borrowers is more than one have a lower chance of getting funded as compared to the loan applications made by a sole borrower. Such group applications also take more time to get funded. Further, loan application by a solo woman not only has a higher chance of getting funded but as such get funded faster. The results also suggest that those loan applications which are supported by an MFI that has a religious affiliation, not only have a lower chance of getting funded, but also take longer to get funded as compared to the loan applications posted by secular MFIs. The results do not support cross-border currency risk to be a factor in explaining the determinants of loan funding. Finally, analyses suggest that loans raised for the purpose of earning livelihood and education have a higher chance of getting funded and such loans get funded faster as compared to the loans applied for purposes related to basic necessities such a clothing, housing, food, health, and personal use. The results are robust to controls for ‘MFI dummy’ and ‘year dummy’. The key implication from this study is that global social investors tend to develop an emotional connect with single woman borrowers and consequently they get funded faster Hence, MFIs should look for alternative ways for funding loans whose purpose is to meet basic needs; while, more loans related to livelihood and education should be raised via digital platforms.

Keywords: P2P lending, social investing, fintech, financial inclusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Baharak Shakeri, Seyed Hashem Hosseini

Abstract:

The weather in deserts is hot and dry in summers, and cold and dry in winters, and difference of temperature of nights and days sometimes reaches to 28°C. People of deserts have reached some solutions to cope with this climatic condition and to decrease its annoying features. Among these solutions are: constructing houses adjacent to each other, making tall walls, using mud brick and thatch cover, constructing domical arches, cellar, and wind catcher, which are together the devices to control the adversity of hot weather in summers and cold weather in winters. Using these solutions, the people of deserts have succeeded to make the best use with the least energy consumption, and to minimize the damage on the nature and environment, and in short, they are friends of the nature, which is a step toward the objectives of green buildings.

Keywords: desert house, green building, Iran, nature

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Benjamin Kuester, Bjoern Eilert, Malte Stonis, Ludger Overmeyer

Abstract:

Increasing quality requirements make reliable and effective quality management indispensable. This includes the complaint handling in which the 8D method is widely used. The 8D report as a written documentation of the 8D method is one of the key quality documents as it internally secures the quality standards and acts as a communication medium to the customer. In practice, however, the 8D report is mostly faulty and of poor quality. There is no quality control of 8D reports today. This paper describes the use of natural language processing for the automated evaluation of 8D reports. Based on semantic analysis and text-mining algorithms the presented system is able to uncover content and formal quality deficiencies and thus increases the quality of the complaint processing in the long term.

Keywords: 8D report, complaint management, evaluation system, text-mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Seok Hong Min, Tae Kwon Ha

Abstract:

In this study, thermal fatigue properties of 400 series ferritic stainless steels have been evaluated in the temperature ranges of 200-800oC and 200-900oC. Systematic methods for control of temperatures within the predetermined range and measurement of load applied to specimens as a function of temperature during thermal cycles have been established. Thermal fatigue tests were conducted under fully constrained condition, where both ends of specimens were completely fixed. It has been revealed that load relaxation behavior at the temperatures of thermal cycle was closely related with the thermal fatigue property. Thermal fatigue resistance of 430J1L stainless steel is found to be superior to the other steels.

Keywords: ferritic stainless steel, automotive exhaust, thermal fatigue, microstructure, load relaxation

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Oliver Arana

Abstract:

Within the common vein of social understanding, surrealism is often understood to rely on disconcerting images and fragmented collage, both in its visual representation and literary manifestations. By tracing the history and literature of surrealism, the author makes the argument that there were certain factions within Latin America that employed characteristics of surrealism in order to reach some sense of understanding, and not to further complicate or disorient -an aim that most closely aligns to Freudian psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis should, however, be a comparable practice only to understand how Latin American surrealism had more of a concrete goal than its European counterpart. The primary subject of the paper is the Mexican poet, Pita Amor, who has retroactively been associated with the movement; and therefore, it should be duly noted that the adjective, surrealism, only applies to her as something that describes traits within the literary lexicon.

Keywords: Latin America, Pita Amor, poetry, surrealism

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Zouhair Gassim

Abstract:

The reconfiguration of representations of women's bodies as a "chest of pregnancies", the growing commitment of their bodies to the decision of pregnancies previously monopolized by men, the emergence of new practices of the bodies of men and women suggest that the borders between the masculine and the feminine in Morocco are moving. However, the persistence of sexual violence against girls/women indicates that these changes did not contribute to the lifting of the men's control over the bodies of women. This paper aims to analyze the lessons learned about sex education as a discourse related to the fabric of bodies in relation to sexuality in school in order to understand to what extent this institution contributes to the (re) production of gender inequalities. As a result, the educational discourse on sexuality still remains one of the spaces of resistance against gender equality and thus contributes to the (re) production of gender inequalities.

Keywords: gender, sexual education, Morocco, educational system

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Lahcen Daoudi, Fatima Zahra Omdi, Abldelali Gourfi

Abstract:

In Morocco, as in most Mediterranean countries, water scarcity is a common situation because of low and unevenly distributed rainfall. The expansions of irrigated lands, as well as the growth of urban and industrial areas and tourist resorts, contribute to an increase of water demand. Therefore in the 1960s Morocco embarked on an ambitious program to increase the number of dams to boost water retention capacity. However, the decrease in the capacity of these reservoirs caused by sedimentation is a major problem; it is estimated at 75 million m3/year. Dams and reservoirs became unusable for their intended purposes due to sedimentation in large rivers that result from soil erosion. Soil erosion presents an important driving force in the process affecting the landscape. It has become one of the most serious environmental problems that raised much interest throughout the world. Monitoring soil erosion risk is an important part of soil conservation practices. The estimation of soil loss risk is the first step for a successful control of water erosion. The aim of this study is to estimate the soil loss risk and its spatial distribution in the different fields of Morocco and to prioritize areas for soil conservation interventions. The approach followed is the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) using remote sensing and GIS, which is the most popular empirically based model used globally for erosion prediction and control. This model has been tested in many agricultural watersheds in the world, particularly for large-scale basins due to the simplicity of the model formulation and easy availability of the dataset. The spatial distribution of the annual soil loss was elaborated by the combination of several factors: rainfall erosivity, soil erodability, topography, and land cover. The average annual soil loss estimated in several basins watershed of Morocco varies from 0 to 50t/ha/year. Watersheds characterized by high-erosion-vulnerability are located in the North (Rif Mountains) and more particularly in the Central part of Morocco (High Atlas Mountains). This variation of vulnerability is highly correlated to slope variation which indicates that the topography factor is the main agent of soil erosion within these basin catchments. These results could be helpful for the planning of natural resources management and for implementing sustainable long-term management strategies which are necessary for soil conservation and for increasing over the projected economic life of the dam implemented.

Keywords: soil loss, RUSLE, GIS-remote sensing, watershed, Morocco

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Takashi Kaminagayoshi, Shigeyuki Haruyama

Abstract:

To improve the manufacturing efficiency of biologics, such as antibody drugs, a quality engineering framework was designed. Within this framework, critical steps and parameters in the manufacturing process were studied. Identification of these critical steps and critical parameters allows a deeper understanding of manufacturing capabilities, and suggests to process development department process control standards based on actual manufacturing capabilities as part of a PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle. This cycle can be applied to each manufacturing process so that it can be standardized, reducing the time needed to establish each new process.

Keywords: antibody drugs, biologics, manufacturing efficiency, PDCA cycle, quality engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Maysam Shahsavari, Seyed Jamalaldin Haddadi

Abstract:

There are several methods to localize a mobile robot such as relative, absolute and probabilistic. In this paper, particle filter due to its simple implementation and the fact that it does not need to know to the starting position will be used. This method estimates the position of the mobile robot using a probabilistic distribution, relying on a known map of the environment instead of predicting it. Afterwards, it updates this estimation by reading input sensors and control commands. To receive information from the surrounding world, distance to obstacles, for example, a Kinect is used which is much cheaper than a laser range finder. Finally, after explaining the Adaptive Particle Filter method and its implementation in detail, we will compare this method with the dead reckoning method and show that this method is much more suitable for situations in which we have a map of the environment.

Keywords: particle filter, localization, methods, odometry, kinect

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Sundus Ayyaz, Saad Rehman, Usman Qamar

Abstract:

Software Architecture is the basic structure of software that states the development and advancement of a software system. Software architecture is also considered as a significant tool for the construction of high quality software systems. A clean design leads to the control, value and beauty of software resulting in its longer life while a bad design is the cause of architectural erosion where a software evolution completely fails. This paper discusses the occurrence of software architecture erosion and presents a set of methods for the detection, declaration and prevention of architecture erosion. The causes and symptoms of architecture erosion are observed with the examples of prescriptive and descriptive architectures and the practices used to stop this erosion are also discussed by considering different types of software erosion and their affects. Consequently finding and devising the most suitable approach for fighting software architecture erosion and in some way reducing its affect is evaluated and tested on different scenarios.

Keywords: software architecture, architecture erosion, prescriptive architecture, descriptive architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 481

Authors: Halina Veloso e Zarate, Manuela Triggianese

Abstract:

The urban challenges posed by rapid population growth, climate adaptation, and sustainable living have compelled Dutch cities to reimagine their built environment and transportation systems. As a pivotal contributor to CO₂ emissions, the transportation sector in the Netherlands demands innovative solutions for transitioning to low-carbon mobility. This study investigates the potential of transit oriented development (TOD) as a strategy for achieving carbon reduction and sustainable urban transformation. Focusing on the Lombardijen station area in Rotterdam, which is targeted for significant densification, this paper presents a design-oriented exploration of a low-carbon transport node. By employing a research-by-design methodology, this study delves into multifaceted factors and scales, aiming to propose future scenarios for Lombardijen. Drawing from a synthesis of existing literature, applied research, and practical insights, a robust design framework emerges. To inform this framework, governmental data concerning the built environment and material embodied carbon are harnessed. However, the restricted access to crucial datasets, such as property ownership information from the cadastre and embodied carbon data from De Nationale Milieudatabase, underscores the need for improved data accessibility, especially during the concept design phase. The findings of this research contribute fundamental insights not only to the Lombardijen case but also to TOD studies across Rotterdam's 13 nodes and similar global contexts. Spatial data related to property ownership facilitated the identification of potential densification sites, underscoring its importance for informed urban design decisions. Additionally, the paper highlights the disparity between the essential role of embodied carbon data in environmental assessments for building permits and its limited accessibility due to proprietary barriers. Although this study lays the groundwork for sustainable urbanization through TOD-based design, it acknowledges an area of future research worthy of exploration: the socio-economic dimension. Given the complex socio-economic challenges inherent in the Lombardijen area, extending beyond spatial constraints, a comprehensive approach demands integration of mobility infrastructure expansion, land-use diversification, programmatic enhancements, and climate adaptation. While the paper adopts a TOD lens, it refrains from an in-depth examination of issues concerning equity and inclusivity, opening doors for subsequent research to address these aspects crucial for holistic urban development.

Keywords: Rotterdam zuid, transport oriented development, carbon emissions, low-carbon design, cross-scale design, data-supported design

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Sajjad Yahaghifar

Abstract:

From the end of the last century, the importance and use of renewable energy sources have gained prominence, due not only by the fossil fuels dependence reduction, but mainly by environmental reasons related to climate change and the effects to the humanity. Consequently, solar energy has been arousing interest in several countries for being a technology considered clean, with reduced environmental impact. The output power of photo voltaic (PV) arrays is always changing with weather conditions,i.e., solar irradiation and atmospheric temperature. Therefore, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control to extract maximum power from the PV arrays at real time becomes indispensable in PV generation system. This paper Study MPPT and total harmonic distortion (THD) in the city of Tabriz, Iran with the grid-connected PV system as distributed generation.

Keywords: MPPT, THD, grid-connected, PV system

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: Chiahi Nadia

Abstract:

The aim of our work is to monitor the behavior of soft wheat on a morpho-physiological and agronomic scale under the influence of treated wastewater. Physico-chemical analyses of the treated sewage were also carried out, and our tests were carried out on two varieties of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L), HD1220 and ARZ. For this, a seedling was made, and two different irrigations were chosen, one using treated wastewater from the Sedrata (Wilaya of Souk ahras - Algeria) WWTP and the other stormwater as a control. The tests focused on soil and soft wheat parameters, and based on our results, the soft wheat development, physiological and yield parameters appear to respond favorably to the use of these waters.

Keywords: common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), purified wastewater, irrigation, morph physiological and agronomic parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Piotr Wisniewski, Sławomir Dykas

Abstract:

Condensation has a negative impact on turbomachinery efficiency in many energy processes.In technical applications, it is often impossible to dry the working fluid at the nozzle inlet. One of the most popular working fluid is atmospheric air that always contains water in form of steam, liquid, or ice crystals. Moreover, it always contains some amount of suspended particles which influence the phase change process. It is known that the phenomena of evaporation or condensation are connected with release or absorption of latent heat, what influence the fluid physical properties and might affect the machinery efficiency therefore, the phase transition has to be taken under account. This researchpresents an attempt to evaluate the impact of solid and liquid particles suspended in the air on the expansion of moist air in a low expansion rate, i.e., with expansion rate, P≈1000s⁻¹. The numerical study supported by analytical and experimental research is presented in this work. The experimental study was carried out using an in-house experimental test rig, where nozzle was examined for different inlet air relative humidity values included in the range of 25 to 51%. The nozzle was tested for a supersonic flow as well as for flow with shock waves induced by elevated back pressure. The Schlieren photography technique and measurement of static pressure on the nozzle wall were used for qualitative identification of both condensation and shock waves. A numerical model validated against experimental data available in the literature was used for analysis of occurring flow phenomena. The analysis of the suspended particles number, diameter, and character (solid or liquid) revealed their connection with heterogeneous condensation importance. If the expansion of fluid without suspended particlesis considered, the condensation triggers so called condensation wave that appears downstream the nozzle throat. If the solid particles are considered, with increasing number of them, the condensation triggers upwind the nozzle throat, decreasing the condensation wave strength. Due to the release of latent heat during condensation, the fluid temperature and pressure increase, leading to the shift of normal shock upstream the flow. Owing relatively large diameters of the droplets created during heterogeneous condensation, they evaporate partially on the shock and continues to evaporate downstream the nozzle. If the liquid water particles are considered, due to their larger radius, their do not affect the expanding flow significantly, however might be in major importance while considering the compression phenomena as they will tend to evaporate on the shock wave. This research proves the need of further study of phase change phenomena in supersonic flow especially considering the interaction of droplets with the aerodynamic waves in the flow.

Keywords: aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, condensation, moist air, multi-phase flows

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: O. A. Lawal, O. A Ojesanmi

Abstract:

The demand for wireless cellular services continues to increase while the radio resources remain limited. Thus, network operators have to continuously manage the scarce radio resources in order to have an improved quality of service for mobile users. This paper proposes how to handle the problem of congestion in the mobile network by prioritizing handoff call, using the guard channel allocation scheme. The research uses specific threshold value for the time of allocation of the channel in the algorithm. The scheme would be simulated by generating various data for different traffics in the network as it would be in the real life. The result would be used to determine the probability of handoff call dropping and the probability of the new call blocking as a way of measuring the network performance.

Keywords: call block, channel, handoff, mobile cellular network

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Frazer McDonald Ng'oma

Abstract:

Online Learning in Malawi has only immersed in recent years due to the need to increase access to higher education, the need to accommodate upgrading students who wish to study on a part time basis while still continuing their work, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of schools resulting in academic institutions seeking alternative modes of teaching and Learning to ensure continued teaching and Learning. Realizing that this mode of Learning is becoming a norm, institutions of higher Learning have started pioneering online post-graduate programs from which they can draw lessons before fully implementing it in undergraduate programs. Online learning pedagogy has not been fully grasped and institutions are still experimenting with this mode of Learning until online Learning guiding policies are created and its standards improved. This single case descriptive qualitative research study sought to investigate online postgraduate students’ perceptions and experiences with Student to student interactive pedagogy in their programs. The results of the study are to inform institutions and educators how to structure their programs to ensure that their students get the full satisfaction. 25 Masters students in 3 recently introduced online programs at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), were engaged; 19 were interviewed and 6 responded to questionnaires. The findings from the students were presented and categorized in themes and subthemes that emerged from the qualitative data that was collected and analysed following Colaizzi’s framework for data analysis that resulted in themes formulation. Findings revealed that Student to student interactions occurred in the online programme during live sessions, on class Whatsapp group, in discussion boards as well as on emails. Majority of the students (n=18) felt the level of students’ interaction initiated by the institution was too much, referring to mandatory interactions activities like commenting in discussion boards and attending to live sessons. Some participants (n=7) were satisfied with the level of interaction and also pointed out that they would be fine with more program-initiated student–to–student interactions. These participants attributed having been out of school for some time as a reason for needing peer interactions citing that it is already difficult to get back to a traditional on-campus school after some time, let alone an online class where there is no physical interaction with other students. In general, majority of the participants (n=18) did not value Student to student interaction in online Learning. The students suggested that having intensive student-to-student interaction in postgraduate online studies does not need to be a high priority for the institution and they further recommended that if a lecturer decides to incorporate student-to-student activities into a class, they should be optional.

Keywords: online learning, interactions, student interactions, post graduate students

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Angeliki Gkiouzeli, Christine Rotonda, Elise Eby, Claire Touchet, Marie-Jo Brennstuhl, Cyril Tarquinio

Abstract:

Resilience is a psychological concept of possible relevance to the development and maintenance of chronic pain (CP). It refers to the ability of individuals to maintain reasonably healthy levels of physical and psychological functioning when exposed to an isolated and potentially highly disruptive event. Extensive research in recent years has supported the importance of this concept in the CP literature. Increased levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of perceived pain intensity and better mental health outcomes in adults with persistent pain. The ongoing project seeks to include the concept of pain-specific resilience in the French literature in order to provide more appropriate measures for assessing and understanding the complexities of CP in the near future. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no validated version of the pain-specific resilience measure, the Pain Resilience scale (PRS), for French-speaking populations. Therefore, the present work aims to address this gap, firstly by performing a linguistic and cultural translation of the scale into French and secondly by studying the internal validity and reliability of the PRS for French CP populations. The forward-translation-back translation methodology was used to achieve as perfect a cultural and linguistic translation as possible according to the recommendations of the COSMIN (Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments) group, and an online survey is currently conducted among a representative sample of the French population suffering from CP. To date, the survey has involved one hundred respondents, with a total target of around three hundred participants at its completion. We further seek to study the metric properties of the French version of the PRS, ''L’Echelle de Résilience à la Douleur spécifique pour les Douleurs Chroniques'' (ERD-DC), in French patients suffering from CP, assessing the level of pain resilience in the context of CP. Finally, we will explore the relationship between the level of pain resilience in the context of CP and other variables of interest commonly assessed in pain research and treatment (i.e., general resilience, self-efficacy, pain catastrophising, and quality of life). This study will provide an overview of the methodology used to address our research objectives. We will also present for the first time the main findings and further discuss the validity of the scale in the field of CP research and pain management. We hope that this tool will provide a better understanding of how CP-specific resilience processes can influence the development and maintenance of this disease. This could ultimately result in better treatment strategies specifically tailored to individual needs, thus leading to reduced healthcare costs and improved patient well-being.

Keywords: chronic pain, pain measure, pain resilience, questionnaire adaptation

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: JoonHo Lee, KyoJin An, JunSu Kim, Young-Chul Park

Abstract:

In this study, the fluid flow characteristics and performance numerical study through CFD model of the Non-split quick coupling for flow control in hydraulic system equipment for the aerospace business group focused to predict. In this study, we considered turbulence models for the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics for the CFD model of the Non-split Quick Coupling for aerospace business. In addition to this, the adequacy of the CFD model were verified by comparing with standard value. Based on this analysis, accurate the fluid flow characteristics can be predicted. It is, therefore, the design of the fluid flow characteristic contribute the reliability for the Quick Coupling which is required in industries on the basis of research results.

Keywords: CFD, FEM, quick coupling, turbulence

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Reda Mankbadi

Abstract:

The current work explores the use of Synthetic Jet Actuators (SJAs) for control of the acoustic radiation of a low-speed transitioning airfoil in a uniform stream. In the adopted numerical procedure, the actuator is modeled without its resonator cavity through imposing a simple fluctuating-velocity boundary condition at the bottom of the actuator's orifice. The orifice cavity, with the properly defined boundary condition, is then embedded into the airfoil surface. High-accuracy viscous simulations are then conducted to study the effects of the actuation on sound radiated by the airfoil. Results show that SJA can considerably suppress the radiated sound of the airfoil in uniform incoming stream.

Keywords: simulations, aeroacoustics, wind turbine noise, synthetic jet actuators (SJAs)

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Premkumar Vincent, Hyeok Kim, Jin-Hyuk Bae

Abstract:

Organic solar cells have high potential which enables these to absorb much weaker light than 1-sun in indoor environment. They also have several practical advantages, such as flexibility, cost-advantage, and semi-transparency that can have superiority in indoor solar energy harvesting. We investigate organic solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) for indoor application while Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations were run to find the optimized structure. This may provide the highest short-circuit current density to acquire high efficiency under indoor illumination.

Keywords: indoor solar cells, indoor light harvesting, organic solar cells, P3HT:ICBA, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Ioana Pisica, Dimitrios Gkritzapis

Abstract:

The significance of UAS in scientific applications has been amply demonstrated in recent years. The combinations of portability and quasi-static positioning by means of flying in close loop path make them versatile and efficient in the inspection of power systems infrastructure. In this paper, we critically assess several platforms and sensor capabilities to identify their pros and cons in relation to the power systems assets to be monitored. In this respect, it is paramount the flights to be conducted by using UAS which bear certain suitable features, such as responsive and easy control, video capturing in real time, autonomous routing of pre-planned flight programming with differentiating payloads. The outcome of this research is a set of optimal requirements for power system assets monitoring with UAS.

Keywords: platforms, power system, sensors, UAVs

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Tom Elias, Kiran G. Shirlal

Abstract:

Coastal erosion is one of the major issue faced by maritime countries, globally. More than 1200 km stretch of Indian coastline is marked eroding. There have been numerous attempts to impede the erosion rate and to attain equilibrium beach profiles. High cost and unavailability of natural rocks forced coastal engineers to find alternatives for conventional hard options like seawalls and groynes. Geosynthetic containment systems, emerged in the mid 20th century proved promising in catering coastal protection in countries like Australia, Germany and United States. The present study aims at reviewing Indian timeline of protection works that uses geosynthetic containment systems. Indian exploration regarding geosynthetic containment system dates back to early 2000s. Generally, protection structures use geosynthetics in the form of Geotubes, Geocontainers, and Geobags with Geotubes being most widely used in the form of submerged reefs, seawalls, groynes and breakwaters. Sand and dredged waste are used to fill these containment systems with calculated sand fill ratio. Reviewing the prominent protection works constructed in the east and west coast of India provides an insight into benefits and the difficulties faced by the practical installation. Initially, geosynthetic structures were considered as a temporary protection method prior to the construction of some other hard structure. Later Dahanu, Hamala and Pentha experiences helped in establishing geotubes as an alternative to conventional structures. Nearshore geotubes reefs aimed to attain equilibrium beach served its purpose in Hamala and Dahanu, Maharashtra, while reef constructed at Candolim, Goa underwent serious damage due to Toe Scour. In situ filling by pumping of sand slurry as in case of Shankarpur Seawall, West Bengal remains as a major concern. Geosynthetic systems supplemented by gabions and rock armours improves the wave dissipation, stability and reflection characteristics as implied in Pentha Coast, Odisha, Hazira, Gujarat and Uppada, Andhra Pradesh. Keeping improper design and deliberate destruction by vandals apart, geosynthetic containment systems offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional coastal protection methods in India. Additionally, geosynthetics supports marine growth in its surface which enhances its demand as an eco-friendly material and encourages usage.

Keywords: coastal protection, geotubes, geobags, geocontainers

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Selina Studer, Maria Kleinstäuber, Cornelia Weise

Abstract:

Background: Finding words to report what you have been through may be challenging, especially when dealing with stressful or highly emotional experiences. Photovoice (PV) represents a possible way of facilitating experience reporting. In this approach, people take photos about a particular topic (in our study: worries about the future) and talk about the topic based on the photos. So far, the benefits of Photovoice have been quantitatively insufficiently tested. There is a lack of randomized controlled trials investigating PV in comparison to other methods. This study aimed to fill this research gap. Methods: 65 participants took part in the study and were randomly assigned to the PV group, the writing group (WG), or the control group (CG). The PV group received the task to take photos of worries regarding the future for one week and send max. 5 of them to the interviewer before the interview. The WG had to write down the worries about the future and send max. 5 of them to the interviewer before the interview. The control group did not receive a specific assignment. The semi-structured interview consisted of six open-ended questions and was applied to all future worries. The questions included the content of the future worries, the meaning, and how the worry expressed itself emotionally and physically. The interview was recorded and later transcribed. After the interview, online questionnaires were filled out. They covered a range of variables such as access to emotional content, ability to describe feelings, the extent of self-disclosure, and relationship quality. Results: Contrary to our hypotheses, one-way ANOVA revealed no differences between the three conditions concerning all variables (access to emotional content, ability to describe feelings, the extent of self-disclosure, and so on), all p's > 0.14, BF₀₁ = 1.78-7.66. In a subsequent step, the words in the transcribed interviews were analyzed. The LIWC program counted how many emotional words occurred in the text and assigned them to predefined categories. Planned contrasts revealed that the PV reported more negative emotional words compared to the two groups t(62) = 2.62, p = .011, and also compared to the WG only, t(62) = 2.36, p = .022, BF₀₁ = 0.62. Conclusions and implications: The applied self-report instruments did not reveal any differences between the groups. However, the PV group used more negative emotional words than the other two groups. The discrepancy between self-report and observation variables regarding emotionality is noticeable. It is suggested that the highly educated and above-average female sample may not have needed PV to access emotional content. It is possible that the approach would yield clearer results in a clinical sample. This and other approaches are currently being investigated in a follow-up study.

Keywords: photovoice, controlled randomized study, online intervention, emotional awareness, self-disclosure, data triangulation, interviews

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: J. O. Ezekwesili-Ofili, L. I. Okorafor, S. C. Nsofor

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is a carbohydrate metabolism disorder due to an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin secretion, action or both. Many known hypoglycaemic drugs are known to produce serious side effects. However, the search for safer and more effective agents has shifted to plant products, including foods and spices. One of such is the rhizome of Curcuma longa or turmeric, which is a spice with high medicinal value. A drawback in the use of C. longa is the poor bioavailability of curcumin, the active ingredient. It has been reported that piperine, an alkaloid present in peppers increases the bioavailability of curcumin. This work therefore investigated the hypoglycaemic and antioxidant effects of ethanolic extract of C. longa rhizomes, alone and with two pepper adjuvants in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. A total of 48 rats were divided into 6 groups of 8 rats each. Groups A–E were induced with diabetes using 150mg/kg body weight of alloxan monohydrate, while group F was normoglycaemic: Group A: Diabetic; fed with 400 mg/g body weight of turmeric extract; group B: Diabetic, fed with 400 mg/kg b. w. and 200mg/kg b. w of ethanolic extract of seeds of Piper guinensee; group C: Diabetic, fed with 400 mg/kg b. w. and 200 mg /kg b. w. of ethanolic extract of seeds of Capsicum annum var cameroun, group D: Diabetic, treated with standard drug, glibenclamide (0.3mg/kg body weight), group E: Diabetic; no treatment i.e. Positive control and group F: non diabetic, no treatment i.e. Negative control. Blood glucose levels were monitored for 14 days using a glucometer. The levels of the antioxidant enzymes; glutathione peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase were also assayed in serum. The ethanolic extracts of C. longa rhizomes at the dose given (400 mg/kg b. w) significantly reduced the blood glucose levels of the diabetic rats (p<0.05) comparable to the standard drug. Co administration of extract of the peppers did not significantly increase the efficiency of the extract, although C. annum var cameroun showed greater effect, though not significantly. The antioxidant effect of the extract was significant in diabetic rats. The use of piperine-containing peppers enhanced the antioxidant effect. Phytochemical analyses of the ethanolic extract of C. longa showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, tannins, glycosides, and terpenoids. These results suggest that the ethanolic extract of C. longa had antidiabetic with antioxidant effects and could thus be of benefit in the treatment and management of diabetes as well as ameliorate pro-oxidant effects that may lead to diabetic complications. However, while the addition of piperine did not affect the antidiabetic effect of C. longa, the antioxidant effect was greatly enhanced.

Keywords: antioxidant, Curcuma longa rhizome, hypoglycaemic, pepper adjuvants, piperine

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Ali Akrmi, Mohamed Beji, Ahmed Baklouti, Fatma Djouani, Philippe Lang, Mohamed M. Chehimi

Abstract:

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a highly versatile polymer with excellent balance of properties and numerous applications such as water pipes, packaging and polymer materials of importance in the biomedical sector. However, depending on the applications, it is necessary to modify PVC by mixing with a plasticizer; surface modification using plasma, surface grafting or flame treatment; or bulk chemical modification which affects the entire PVC chains at an extent that can be tuned by the polymer chemist. The targeted applications are improvement of chemical resistance, avoiding or limitation of migration of toxic plasticizers, improvement of antibacterial properties, or control of blood compatibility.

Keywords: poly(vinyl chloride), nucleophilic substitution, sulfonylcarbamates, XPS

Procedia PDF Downloads 682

Authors: Jung-Min Yang

Abstract:

A method of tolerating input faults for input/state asynchronous sequential machines is proposed. A corrective controller is placed in front of the considered asynchronous machine to realize model matching with a reference model. The value of the external input transmitted to the closed-loop system may change by fault. We address the existence condition for the controller that can counteract adverse effects of any input fault while maintaining the objective of model matching. A design procedure for constructing the controller is outlined. The proposed reachability condition for the controller design is validated in an illustrative example.

Keywords: asynchronous sequential machines, corrective control, fault tolerance, input faults, model matching

Procedia PDF Downloads 408