Search results for: clinical application

Authors: M. I. Benamrani, H. Benamrani

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In the research to replace silicon and other thin-film semiconductor technologies and to develop long-term technology that is environmentally friendly, low-cost, and abundant, there is growing interest today given to organic materials. Our objective is to prepare polymeric layers containing metal particles deposited on a surface of semiconductor material which can have better electrical properties and which could be applied in the fields of nanotechnology as an alternative to the existing processes involved in the design of electronic circuits. This work consists in the development of composite materials by complexation and electroreduction of copper in a film of poly (pyrrole benzoic acid). The deposition of the polymer film on a monocrystalline silicon substrate is made by electrochemical oxidation in an organic medium. The incorporation of copper particles into the polymer is achieved by dipping the electrode in a solution of copper sulphate to complex the cupric ions, followed by electroreduction in an aqueous solution to precipitate the copper. In order to prepare the monocrystalline silicon substrate as an electrode for electrodeposition, an in-depth study on its surface state was carried out using photoacoustic spectroscopy. An analysis of the optical properties using this technique on the effect of pickling using a chemical solution was carried out. Transmission-photoacoustic and impedance spectroscopic techniques give results in agreement with those of photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Keywords: photoacoustic, spectroscopy, copper sulphate, chemical solution

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Authors: Mamidi Ramakrishna Rao

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Doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG) due to their advantages like speed variation and four-quadrant operation, find its application in wind turbines. DFIG besides supplying power to the grid has to support reactive power (kvar) under grid voltage variations, should contribute minimum fault current during faults, have high efficiency, minimum weight, adequate rotor protection during crow-bar-operation from +20% to -20% of rated speed.  To achieve the optimum performance, a good electromagnetic design of DFIG is required. In this paper, a simple and heuristic global optimization – Differential Evolution has been used. Variables considered are lamination details such as slot dimensions, stack diameters, air gap length, and generator stator and rotor stack length. Two operating conditions have been considered - voltage and speed variations. Constraints included were reactive power supplied to the grid and limiting fault current and torque. The optimization has been executed separately for three objective functions - maximum efficiency, weight reduction, and grid fault stator currents. Subsequent calculations led to the conclusion that designs determined through differential evolution help in determining an optimum electrical design for each objective function.

Keywords: design optimization, performance, DFIG, differential evolution

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Authors: Maslan Lamria, Ralph E. H. Sims, Tatang H. Soerawidjaja

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In increasing its self-sufficiency on transportation fuel, Indonesia is currently developing commercial production and use of drop-in biofuel (DBF) from vegetable oil. To maximize the level of success, it is necessary to get insights on how the implementation would develop as well as any important factors. This study assessed the dynamics of transition from existing fossil fuel system to a renewable fuel system, which involves the transition from existing biodiesel to projected DBF. A systems dynamics approach was applied and a model developed to simulate the dynamics of liquid biofuel transition. The use of palm oil feedstock was taken as a case study to assess the projected DBF implementation by 2045. The set of model indicators include liquid fuel self-sufficiency, liquid biofuel share, foreign exchange savings and green-house gas emissions reduction. The model outputs showed that supports on DBF investment and use play an important role in the transition progress. Given assumptions which include application of a maximum level of supports over time, liquid fuel self-sufficiency would be still unfulfilled in which palm biofuel contribution is 0.2. Thus, other types of feedstock such as algae and oil feedstock from marginal lands need to be developed synergically. Regarding support on DBF use, this study recommended that removal of fossil subsidy would be necessary prior to applying a carbon tax policy effectively.

Keywords: biofuel, drop-in biofuel, energy transition, liquid fuel

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Authors: Vitalii Yu. Kapitan, Aleksandr V. Perzhu, Konstantin V. Nefedev

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The necessity of studying magnetic multilayer structures is explained by the prospects of their practical application as a technological base for creating new storages medium. Magnetic multilayer films have many unique features that contribute to increasing the density of information recording and the speed of storage devices. Multilayer structures are structures of alternating magnetic and nonmagnetic layers. In frame of the classical Heisenberg model, lattice spin systems with direct short- and long-range exchange interactions were investigated by Monte Carlo methods. The thermodynamic characteristics of multilayer structures, such as the temperature behavior of magnetization, energy, and heat capacity, were investigated. The processes of magnetization reversal of multilayer structures in external magnetic fields were investigated. The developed software is based on the new, promising programming language Rust. Rust is a new experimental programming language developed by Mozilla. The language is positioned as an alternative to C and C++. For the Monte Carlo simulation, the Metropolis algorithm and its parallel implementation using MPI and the Wang-Landau algorithm were used. We are planning to study of magnetic multilayer films with asymmetric Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction, interfacing effects and skyrmions textures. This work was supported by the state task of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russia # 3.7383.2017/8.9

Keywords: The Monte Carlo methods, Heisenberg model, multilayer structures, magnetic skyrmion

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Authors: Apurwa Rastogi, Anant Parghi

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Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are memory metals with a high calibre to outperform as a civil construction material. They showcase novel functionality of undergoing large deformations and self-healing capability (pseudoelasticity) that leads to its emerging applications in a variety of areas. In the existing literature, most of the studies focused on the behaviour of SMA when used in critical regions of the smart buildings/bridges designed to withstand severe earthquakes without collapse and also its various applications in retrofitting works. However, despite having high ductility, their uses as construction joints and shear connectors in composite bridges are still unexplored in the research domain. This article presents to gain a broad outlook on whether SMAs can be partially used as shear connectors in composite bridges. In this regard, existing papers on the characteristics of shear connectors in the composite bridges will be discussed thoroughly and matched with the fundamental characteristics and properties of SMA. Since due to the high strength, stiffness, and ductility phenomena of SMAs, it is expected to be a good material for the shear connectors in composite bridges, and the collected evidence encourages the prior scrutiny of its partial use in the composite constructions. Based on the comprehensive review, important and necessary conclusions will be affirmed, and further emergence of research direction on the use of SMA will be discussed. This opens the window of new possibilities of using smart materials to enhance the performance of bridges even more in the near future.

Keywords: composite bridges, ductility, pseudoelasticity, shape memory alloy, shear connectors

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Authors: Sarita Sindhu, Vinay Kumar

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The growing demand for efficient energy storage in applications such as portable electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems has emphasized the need for advanced energy storage materials. This study addresses the pressing need for efficient energy storage materials by exploring the synthesis and application of a composite of activated carbon (AC) and nickel sulfide (NiS) for supercapacitors. Activated carbon, possessing high surface area and excellent electrochemical stability, was combined with nickel sulfide, a transition metal sulfide with high theoretical capacitance, to enhance the electrochemical performance of the composite material. Characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were employed to analyze the morphology, crystalline structure, and bonding characteristics, confirming the successful formation of a uniformly distributed AC/NiS composite. Electrochemical evaluations revealed that the AC/NiS composite exhibited superior capacitance, excellent rate capability, and enhanced cycling stability compared to pure AC and NiS. The synergistic effect of the large surface area from activated carbon and redox-active sites of nickel sulfide provided an improved energy storage capacity, making this composite a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

Keywords: activated carbon, energy storage, sulfide, surface area

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Authors: Hassan Karimi, Fred Piercy, Ruoxi Chen, Ana L. Jaramillo-Sierra, Wei-Ning Chang, Manjushree Palit, Catherine Martosudarmo, Angelito Antonio

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Background: The two psychotherapy camps, the randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and the common factors model, have competitively claimed specific explanations for therapy effectiveness. Recently, scholars called for empirical evidence to show the role of common factors in therapeutic outcome in marriage and family therapy. Purpose: This cross-national study aims to explore how clinicians, across different nations and theoretical orientations, attribute the contribution of common factors to therapy outcome. Method: A brief common factors questionnaire (CFQ-with a Cronbach’s Alpha, 0.77) was developed and administered in seven nations. A series of statistical analyses (paired-samples t-test, independent sample t-test, ANOVA) were conducted: to compare clinicians perceived contribution of total common factors versus model-specific factors, to compare each pair of common factors’ categories, and to compare clinicians from collectivistic nations versus clinicians from individualistic nation. Results: Clinicians across seven nations attributed 86% to common factors versus 14% to model-specific factors. Clinicians attributed 34% of therapeutic change to client’s factors, 26% to therapist’s factors, 26% to relationship factors, and 14% to model-specific techniques. The ANOVA test indicated each of the three categories of common factors (client 34%, therapist 26%, relationship 26%) showed higher contribution in therapeutic outcome than the category of model specific factors (techniques 14%). Clinicians with psychology degree attributed more contribution to model-specific factors than clinicians with MFT and counseling degrees who attributed more contribution to client factors. Clinicians from collectivistic nations attributed larger contributions to therapist’s factors (M=28.96, SD=12.75) than the US clinicians (M=23.22, SD=7.73). The US clinicians attributed a larger contribution to client’s factors (M=39.02, SD=1504) than clinicians from the collectivistic nations (M=28.71, SD=15.74). Conclusion: The findings indicate clinicians across the globe attributed more than two thirds of therapeutic change to CFs, which emphasize the training of the common factors model in the field. CFs, like model-specific factors, vary in their contribution to therapy outcome in relation to specific client, therapist, problem, treatment model, and sociocultural context. Sociocultural expectations and norms should be considered as a context in which both CFs and model-specific factors function toward therapeutic goals. Clinicians need to foster a cultural competency specifically regarding the divergent ways that CFs can be activated due to specific sociocultural values.

Keywords: common factors, model-specific factors, cross-national survey, therapist cultural competency, enhancing therapist efficacy

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Authors: Santos Cabrera, Halbert Yesid, Moncada Nino, Alvaro Fernando, Rincon Cuta, Yeisson Alexis

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The present work evaluates the feasibility of implementing a health and use monitoring system (HUMS), based on vibration analysis as a condition-based maintenance program for the UH60L 'Blackhawk' helicopters. The mixed approach used consists of contributions from national and international experts, the analysis of data extracted from the software (Meridium), the correlation of variables derived from the diagnosis of availability, the development, and application of the HUMS system, the evaluation of the latter through of the use of instruments designed for the collection of information using the DELPHI method and data capture with the device installed in the helicopter studied. The results obtained in the investigation reflect the context of maintenance in aerial operations, a reduction of operation and maintenance costs of over 2%, better use of human resources, improvement in availability (5%), and fulfillment of the aircraft’s security standards, enabling the implementation of the monitoring system (HUMS) in the condition-based maintenance program. New elements are added to the study of maintenance based on condition -specifically, in the determination of viability based on qualitative and quantitative data according to the methodology. The use of condition-based maintenance will allow organizations to adjust and reconfigure their strategic, logistical, and maintenance capabilities, aligning them with their strategic objectives of responding quickly and adequately to changes in the environment and operational requirements.

Keywords: air transportation sustainability, HUMS, maintenance based condition, maintenance blackhawk capability

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Authors: Silvina Caíno-Lores, Jesús Carretero

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Large scale computing infrastructures have been widely developed with the core objective of providing a suitable platform for high-performance and high-throughput computing. These systems are designed to support resource-intensive and complex applications, which can be found in many scientific and industrial areas. Currently, large scale data-intensive applications are hindered by the high latencies that result from the access to vastly distributed data. Recent works have suggested that improving data locality is key to move towards exascale infrastructures efficiently, as solutions to this problem aim to reduce the bandwidth consumed in data transfers, and the overheads that arise from them. There are several techniques that attempt to move computations closer to the data. In this survey we analyse the different mechanisms that have been proposed to provide data locality for large scale high-performance and high-throughput systems. This survey intends to assist scientific computing community in understanding the various technical aspects and strategies that have been reported in recent literature regarding data locality. As a result, we present an overview of locality-oriented techniques, which are grouped in four main categories: application development, task scheduling, in-memory computing and storage platforms. Finally, the authors include a discussion on future research lines and synergies among the former techniques.

Keywords: data locality, data-centric computing, large scale infrastructures, cloud computing

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Authors: M. M. Hassani, S. Ammann, F. K. Wittel, P. Niemz, H. J. Herrmann

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Application of engineered wood, especially in the form of glued-laminated timbers has increased significantly. Recent progress in plywood made of high strength and high stiffness hardwoods, like European beech, gives designers in general more freedom by increased dimensional stability and load-bearing capacity. However, the strong hygric dependence of basically all mechanical properties renders many innovative ideas futile. The tendency of hardwood for higher moisture sorption and swelling coefficients lead to significant residual stresses in glued-laminated configurations, cross-laminated patterns in particular. These stress fields cause initiation and evolution of cracks in the bond-lines resulting in: interfacial de-bonding, loss of structural integrity, and reduction of load-carrying capacity. Subsequently, delamination of glued-laminated timbers made of hardwood elements can be considered as the dominant failure mechanism in such composite elements. In addition, long-term creep and mechano-sorption under changing environmental conditions lead to loss of stiffness and can amplify delamination growth over the lifetime of a structure even after decades. In this study we investigate the delamination process of adhesively bonded hardwood (European beech) elements subjected to changing climatic conditions. To gain further insight into the long-term performance of adhesively bonded elements during the design phase of new products, the development and verification of an authentic moisture-dependent constitutive model for various species is of great significance. Since up to now, a comprehensive moisture-dependent rheological model comprising all possibly emerging deformation mechanisms was missing, a 3D orthotropic elasto-plastic, visco-elastic, mechano-sorptive material model for wood, with all material constants being defined as a function of moisture content, was developed. Apart from the solid wood adherends, adhesive layer also plays a crucial role in the generation and distribution of the interfacial stresses. Adhesive substance can be treated as a continuum layer constructed from finite elements, represented as a homogeneous and isotropic material. To obtain a realistic assessment on the mechanical performance of the adhesive layer and a detailed look at the interfacial stress distributions, a generic constitutive model including all potentially activated deformation modes, namely elastic, plastic, and visco-elastic creep was developed. We focused our studies on the three most common adhesive systems for structural timber engineering: one-component polyurethane adhesive (PUR), melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF), and phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF). The corresponding numerical integration approaches, with additive decomposition of the total strain are implemented within the ABAQUS FEM environment by means of user subroutine UMAT. To predict the true stress state, we perform a history dependent sequential moisture-stress analysis using the developed material models for both wood substrate and adhesive layer. Prediction of the delamination process is founded on the fracture mechanical properties of the adhesive bond-line, measured under different levels of moisture content and application of the cohesive interface elements. Finally, we compare the numerical predictions with the experimental observations of de-bonding in glued-laminated samples under changing environmental conditions.

Keywords: engineered wood, adhesive, material model, FEM analysis, fracture mechanics, delamination

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Authors: Alisha Sinha, Laxmi Kant Sharma

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Forest fires are a recurring issue in many parts of the world, including India. These fires can have various causes, including human activities (such as agricultural burning, campfires, or discarded cigarettes) and natural factors (such as lightning). This study presents a comprehensive and advanced methodology for assessing wildfire susceptibility by integrating diverse environmental variables and leveraging cutting-edge machine learning techniques across Rajasthan, India. The primary goal of the study is to utilize Google Earth Engine to compare locations in Sariska National Park, Rajasthan (India), before and after forest fires. High-resolution satellite data were used to assess the amount and types of changes caused by forest fires. The present study meticulously analyzes various environmental variables, i.e., slope orientation, elevation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), drainage density, precipitation, and temperature, to understand landscape characteristics and assess wildfire susceptibility. In addition, a sophisticated random forest regression model is used to predict land surface temperature based on a set of environmental parameters.

Keywords: wildfire susceptibility mapping, LST, random forest, GEE, MODIS, climatic parameters

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Authors: Ammar Maziz, Prateek Gupta, Thiago Vasconcellos Birro, Benoit Gely

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Hydrogen as a sustainable fuel has the highest energy density per mass as compared to conventional non-renewable sources. As the world looks to move towards sustainability, especially in the sectors of aviation and automotive, it becomes important to address the issue of storage of hydrogen as compressed gas in high-pressure tanks. To improve the design for the efficient storage and transportation of Hydrogen, this paper presents the design and stress analysis of Dome Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs) using the geodesic trajectory approach. The geodesic trajectory approach is used to optimize the dome design, resulting in a lightweight and efficient structure. Python scripting is employed to implement the mathematical modeling of the COPV, and after validating the model by comparison to the published paper, stress analysis is conducted using Abaqus commercial code. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the geodesic trajectory approach in achieving a lightweight and structurally sound dome design, as well as the accuracy and reliability of the stress analysis using Abaqus commercial code. This study provides insights into the design and analysis of COPVs for aerospace applications, with the potential for further optimization and application in other industries.

Keywords: composite overwrapped pressure vessels, carbon fiber, geodesic trajectory approach, dome design, stress analysis, plugin python

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Authors: Shubhangi R. Deshmukh, Anupam B. Soni

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Clean water and electricity are vital services needed in all communities. Bio-degradation of wastewater contaminants and desalination technologies are the best possible alternatives for the global shortage of fresh water supply. Osmotic microbial fuel cell (OMFC) is a versatile technology that uses microorganism (used for biodegradation of organic waste) and membrane technology (used for water purification) for wastewater treatment and energy generation simultaneously. This technology is the combination of microbial fuel cell (MFC) and forward osmosis (FO) processes. OMFC can give more electricity and clean water than the MFC which has a regular proton exchange membrane. FO gives many improvements such as high contamination removal, lower operating energy, raising high proton flux than other pressure-driven membrane technology. Lower concentration polarization lowers the membrane fouling by giving osmotic water recovery without extra cost. In this review paper, we have discussed the principle, mechanism, limitation, and application of OMFC technology reported to date. Also, we have interpreted the experimental data from various literature on the water recovery and electricity generation assessed by a different component of OMFC. The area of producing electricity using OMFC has further scope for research and seems like a promising route to wastewater treatment.

Keywords: forward osmosis, microbial fuel cell, osmotic microbial fuel cell, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Aulanni’am Aulanni’am

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Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) progressively increasing it became a serious problem in Indonesia and it is a disease that government is priority to be addressed. The longer a person is suffering from diabetes the more likely to develop complications particularly diabetic patients who are not well maintained. Therefore, Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus needs to be done in the early diagnosis of pre-phase of the disease. In this pre-phase disease, already happening destruction of pancreatic beta cells and declining in beta cell function and the sign autoimmunity reactions associated with beta cell destruction. Type 1 DM is a multifactorial disease triggered by genetic and environmental factors, which leads to the destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Early marker of "beta cell autoreactivity" is the synthesis of autoantibodies against 65-kDa protein, which can be a molecule that can be detected early in the disease pathomechanism. The importance of early diagnosis of diabetic patients held in the phase of pre-disease is to determine the progression towards the onset of pancreatic beta cell destruction and take precautions. However, the price for this examination is very expensive ($ 150/ test), the anti-GAD65 abs examination cannot be carried out routinely in most or even in all laboratories in Indonesia. Therefore, production-based Rapid Test Recombinant Human Protein GAD65 with "Reverse Flow Immunchromatography Technique" in Indonesia is believed to reduce costs and improve the quality of care of patients with diabetes in Indonesia. Rapid Test Product innovation is very simple and suitable for screening and routine inspection of GAD65 autoantibodies. In the blood serum of patients with diabetes caused by autoimmunity, autoantibody-GAD65 is a major serologic marker to detect autoimmune reaction because their concentration level of stability.GAD65 autoantibodies can be found 10 years before clinical symptoms of diabetes. Early diagnosis is more focused to detect the presence autontibodi-GAD65 given specification and high sensitivity. Autoantibodies- GAD65 that circulates in the blood is a major indicator of the destruction of the islet cells of the pancreas. Results of research in collaboration with Biofarma has produced GAD65 autoantibodies based Rapid Test had conducted the soft launch of products and has been tested with the results of a sensitivity of 100 percent and a specificity between 90 and 96% compared with the gold standard (import product) which worked based on ELISA method.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, GAD65 autoantibodies, rapid test, sensitivity, specificity

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Authors: Kolawole Taiwo Olabode

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This is a comparative study of ICTs adoption and use in selected manufacturing industries in for development. This study was carried out 2004 and was repeated 2013 (nine years after) using the same selected manufacturing industries to assess the level, improvement and extent ICT facilities used in these companies. The theory of modernization was explored to explain some developmental issues in this study. The same semi-structured questionnaire and IDI were used to elicit data on the subject matter. About 24.9% of the total workers (1,247) were sampled for this study using quota sampling technique. SPSS was used to analysis the quantitative data. The qualitative data was used to buttress the quantitative data. Findings indicated that Seven-Up Bottling Company and Frigoglass Glass Industry still remained Intensive ICT Users while only Niger Match Nigeria Limited still remained Non-Intensive ICT User while unfortunately, Askar Paint Nigeria Limited has gone liquidated. It is also important to discover that only the Intensive ICT users improved on relevant ICT facilities. The existing problems of ICT adoption and used in these companies remained the same in Niger Match Limited. The study concluded that for a society to be developed, management and government at all levels must do all things necessary to ensure that all existing organisations must be ICT compliance for workers and organisational performance and to enhance nation’s development in order to compete with other companies for global standard or recognition.

Keywords: ICT, intensive ICT-users, entrepreneurial, manufacturing industries, industries and development

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Authors: Mostafa A. Amer, I. A. El-Samra, I. I. Abou-ElSeoud, S. M. El-Abd, N. K. Shawertamimi

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Tomato Fusarium wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopercisi (FOL) is considered one of the most destructive diseases in Egypt. Effect of some biotic inducers such as Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum, Glomus intraradices and Glomus macrocarpum at seven different mixed treatments, was tested for their ability to induce resistance in tomato plants against the disease. According to pathogenicity tests, all the tested isolates of FOL showed wilt symptoms on both of the tested cultivars; however, they considerably varied in percentages of disease incidence (DI) and disease severity (DS). Castle Rock was more susceptible than Peto 86, which was relatively resistant. Pretreatment of both cultivars, under greenhouse conditions, with the tested biotic inducers alone or in combination with each other's, significantly increased the induction of chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, peroxidase, and polyphenoloxidase and reduced disease incidence and severity, compared with untreated noninoculated (C1) and untreated inoculated (C2) controls. Application of a combination of BMP, with GI and GM was the most effective in increasing the induction rated of the tested enzymes, compared with the other treatments. Induction of enzymes in most of the tested bioinducers treatments gradually increased, attaining maximum values after 48 or/and 72 hrs after challenging with FOL, then gradually declined. GI was the least effective bioinducer.

Keywords: F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, defense enzymes, induced systemic resistance, ISR, B. megaterium var. phosphaticum, G. macrocarpum, G. intraradices

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Authors: Mike R. Bambach

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Increasing awareness of environmental concerns is leading a drive towards more sustainable structural products for the built environment. Natural fibres such as flax, jute and hemp have recently been considered for fibre-resin composites, with a major motivation for their implementation being their notable sustainability attributes. While recent decades have seen substantial interest in the use of such natural fibres in composite materials, much of this research has focused on the materials aspects, including fibre processing techniques, composite fabrication methodologies, matrix materials and their effects on the mechanical properties. The present study experimentally investigates the compression strength of structural channel sections of flax, jute and hemp, with a particular focus on their suitability for residential stud wall applications. The section geometry is optimised for maximum strength via the introduction of complex stiffeners in the webs and flanges. Experimental results on both natural fibre composite channel sections and typical steel and timber residential wall studs are compared. The geometrically optimised natural fibre composite channels are shown to have compression capacities suitable for residential wall stud applications, identifying them as a potentially viable alternative to traditional building materials in such application, and potentially other light structural applications.

Keywords: channel sections, natural fibre composites, residential stud walls, structural composites

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Authors: Reza Keihani, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Timothy James Clacy

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Plastic as an environmental burden is a well-rehearsed topic in the research area. This is due to its global demand and destructive impacts on the environment, which has been a significant concern to the governments. Typically, the use of plastic in the construction industry is seen across low-density, non-structural applications due to its diverse range of benefits including high strength-to-weight ratios, manipulability and durability. It can be said that with the level of plastic consumption experienced in the construction industry, an ongoing responsibility is shown for this sector to continually innovate alternatives for application of recycled plastic waste such as using plastic made replacement from polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl and polypropylene in the concrete mix design. In this study, the impact of partially replaced fine aggregate with polypropylene in the concrete mix design was investigated to evaluate the concrete’s compressive strength by conducting an experimental work which comprises of six concrete mix batches with polypropylene replacements ranging from 0.5 to 3.0%. The results demonstrated a typical decline in the compressive strength with the addition of plastic aggregate, despite this reduction generally mitigated as the level of plastic in the concrete mix increased. Furthermore, two of the six plastic-containing concrete mixes tested in the current study exceeded the ST5 standardised prescribed concrete mix compressive strength requirement at 28-days containing 1.50% and 2.50% plastic aggregates, which demonstrated the potential for use of recycled polypropylene in structural applications, as a partial by mass, fine aggregate replacement in the concrete mix.

Keywords: compressive strength, concrete, polypropylene, sustainability

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Authors: Leila Niroomand, Reza Rafigh

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Nowadays, the world is going under a dramatic change from an industry-centered society to an information-centered one. In other words, we are experiencing a transition from real, physical world into a virtual one. Stepping into the information age and running an effective life within the information-centered society demands getting acquainted with characteristics peculiar to such society. Recently, new technologies such as telecommunication and mobile technologies have changed vehemently and accumulation of achievements and information has become so important and brought about changes in occupational structures. The intellectual structure of this day and age depends on deep attention to creative and knowledge-based human resource collaboration instead of merely functioning human resource. Present study scrutinizes the contribution of different dimensions of mobile technologies including perceived use, perceived enjoyment, continuance intention, confirmation and satisfaction to the creativity of personnel. The statistical population included infrastructure communications company employees totaling 2431 persons out of which 331 individuals were chosen as sample based on Morgan and Krejcie table. This research is descriptive and the questionnaire was used for data gathering and it was distributed among those who used telegram application. 228 questionnaires were analyzed by the researcher. Applying SPSS software, Pierson correlation coefficient was analyzed and it was found out that all dimensions of mobile technologies except satisfaction correlate with the creativity of employees.

Keywords: mobile technologies, continuance intention, perceived enjoyment, confirmation, satisfaction, creativity, perceived use

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

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The volatility of the oil market, influenced by geopolitical, economic, and environmental factors, presents significant challenges for stakeholders in predicting trends and demand. This article explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in developing robust forecasting models to anticipate changes in the oil market more accurately. We delve into various AI techniques, including machine learning, deep learning, and time series analysis, that have been adapted to analyze historical data and current market conditions to forecast future trends. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these models in capturing complex patterns and dependencies in market data, which traditional forecasting methods often miss. Additionally, the paper discusses the integration of external variables such as political events, economic policies, and technological advancements that influence oil prices and demand. By leveraging AI, stakeholders can achieve a more nuanced understanding of market dynamics, enabling better strategic planning and risk management. The article concludes with a discussion on the potential of AI-driven models in enhancing the predictive accuracy of oil market forecasts and their implications for global economic planning and strategic resource allocation.

Keywords: AI forecasting, oil market trends, machine learning, deep learning, time series analysis, predictive analytics, economic factors, geopolitical influence, technological advancements, strategic planning

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Authors: A. Majeed, P. Ali

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Before designing an electrical system, the estimation of load is necessary for unit sizing and demand-generation balancing. The system could be a stand-alone system for a village or grid connected or integrated renewable energy to grid connection, especially as there are non–electrified villages in developing countries. In the classical model, the energy demand was found by estimating the household appliances multiplied with the amount of their rating and the duration of their operation, but in this paper, information exists for electrified villages could be used to predict the demand, as villages almost have the same life style. This paper describes a method used to predict the average energy consumed in each two months for every consumer living in a village by Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The input data are collected using a regional survey for samples of consumers representing typical types of different living, household appliances and energy consumption by a list of information, and the output data are collected from administration office of Piramagrun for each corresponding consumer. The result of this study shows that the average demand for different consumers from four villages in different months throughout the year is approximately 12 kWh/day, this model estimates the average demand/day for every consumer with a mean absolute percent error of 11.8%, and MathWorks software package MATLAB version 7.6.0 that contains and facilitate Neural Network Toolbox was used.

Keywords: artificial neural network, load estimation, regional survey, rural electrification

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Authors: Victoria L. Malakhova

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The research is devoted to multimodal content and its effectiveness in developing students’ linguistic and intercultural communicative competences as an indefeasible constituent of their future professional activity. Description of multimodal content both as a linguistic and didactic phenomenon makes the study relevant. The objective of the article is the analysis of creolized texts and the effect they have on fostering higher education students’ skills and their productivity. The main methods used are linguistic text analysis, qualitative and quantitative methods, deduction, generalization. The author studies texts with full and partial creolization, their features and role in composing multimodal textual space. The main verbal and non-verbal markers and paralinguistic means that enhance the linguo-pragmatic potential of creolized texts are covered. To reveal the efficiency of multimodal content application in English teaching, the author conducts an experiment among both undergraduate students and teachers. This allows specifying main functions of creolized texts in the process of language learning, detecting ways of enhancing students’ competences, and increasing their motivation. The described stages of using creolized texts can serve as an algorithm for work with multimodal content in teaching English as a foreign language. The findings contribute to improving the efficiency of the academic process.

Keywords: creolized text, English language learning, higher education, language and communication competences, multimodal content

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Authors: Samer Muthana Sarsam, Abdul Samad Shibghatullah, Chit Su Mon, Abd Aziz Alias, Hosam Al-Samarraie

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Generative Artificial Intelligence chatbots (GAI chatbots) have emerged as promising tools in various domains, including higher education. However, their specific role within the educational context and the level of legal support for their implementation remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of Bard, a newly developed GAI chatbot, in higher education. To achieve this objective, English tweets were collected from Twitter's free streaming Application Programming Interface (API). The Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm was applied to extract latent topics from the collected tweets. User sentiments, including disgust, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, joy, anticipation, and trust, as well as positive and negative sentiments, were extracted using the NRC Affect Intensity Lexicon and SentiStrength tools. This study explored the benefits, challenges, and future implications of integrating GAI chatbots in higher education. The findings shed light on the potential power of such tools, exemplified by Bard, in enhancing the learning process and providing support to students throughout their educational journey.

Keywords: generative artificial intelligence chatbots, bard, higher education, topic modelling, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Samuel Attias, Elad Schiff, Zahi Arnon, Eran Ben-Arye, Yael Keshet, Ibrahim Matter, Boker Lital Keinan

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Background: Despite the extensive use of manual therapies, reflexology in particular, no validated tools have been developed to evaluate patients' beliefs, attitudes and expectations regarding reflexology. Such tools however are essential to improve the results of the reflexology treatment, by better adjusting it to the patients' attitudes and expectations. The tool also enables assessing correlations with clinical results of interventional studies using reflexology. Methods: The IBEAR (Inpatient Beliefs, Expectations and Attitudes toward Reflexology) tool contains 25 questions (8 demographic and 17 specifically addressing reflexology), and was constructed in several stages: brainstorming by a multidisciplinary team of experts; evaluation of each of the proposed questions by the experts' team; and assessment of the experts' degree of agreement per each question, based on a Likert 1-7 scale (1 – don't agree at all; 7 – agree completely). Cronbach's Alpha was computed to evaluate the questionnaire's reliability while the Factor analysis test was used for further validation (228 patients). The questionnaire was tested and re-tested (48h) on a group of 199 patients to assure clarity and reliability, using the Pearson coefficient and the Kappa test. It was modified based on these results into its final form. Results: After its construction, the IBEAR questionnaire passed the expert group's preliminary consensus, evaluation of the questions' clarity (from 5.1 to 7.0), inner validation (from 5.5 to 7) and structural validation (from 5.5 to 6.75). Factor analysis pointed to two content worlds in a division into 4 questions discussing attitudes and expectations versus 5 questions on belief and attitudes. Of the 221 questionnaires collected, a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was calculated on nine questions relating to beliefs, expectations, and attitudes regarding reflexology. This measure stood at 0.716 (satisfactory reliability). At the Test-Retest stage, 199 research participants filled in the questionnaire a second time. The Pearson coefficient for all questions ranged between 0.73 and 0.94 (good to excellent reliability). As for dichotomic answers, Kappa scores ranged between 0.66 and 1.0 (mediocre to high). One of the questions was removed from the IBEAR following questionnaire validation. Conclusions: The present study provides evidence that the proposed IBEAR-16 questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for the characterization of potential reflexology patients and may be effectively used in settings which include the evaluation of inpatients' beliefs, expectations, and attitudes toward reflexology.

Keywords: reflexology, attitude, expectation, belief, CAM, inpatient

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Authors: Mukadder Baran, Mustafa Sözbilir

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicabillity of the Context- and Problem-Based Learning (CPBL) in general chemistry course to the subject of “Thermodynamics” but also the influence of CPBL on students’ achievement, retention of knowledge, their interest, attitudes, motivation and problem-solving skills. The study group included 13 freshman students who were selected with the sampling method appropriate to the purpose among those taking the course of General Chemistry within the Program of Medical Laboratory Techniques at Hakkari University. The application was carried out in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2012-2013. As the data collection tool, Lesson Observation form were used. In the light of the observations held, it was revealed that CPBL increased the students’ intragroup and intergroup communication skills as well as their self-confidence and developed their skills in time management, presentation, reporting, and technology use; and that they were able to relate chemistry to daily life. Depending on these findings, it could be suggested that the area of use of CPBL be widened; that seminars related to constructive methods be organized for teachers. In this way, it is believed that students will not be passive in the group any longer. In addition, it was concluded that in order to avoid the negative effects of the socio-cultural structure on the education system, research should be conducted in places where there is socio-cultural obstacles, and appropriate solutions should be suggested and put into practice.

Keywords: chemistry, education, science, context-based learning

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Authors: Pawamana Ramachandra, Jitesh Gupta, Saranga P. Pogula

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In verification of high volume and complex packet processing IPs, finer control of flow management aspects (for example, rate, bits/sec etc.) per flow class (or a virtual channel or a software thread) is needed. When any Software/Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) thread arbitration is left to the simulator (e.g., Verilog Compiler Simulator (VCS) or Incisive Enterprise Simulator core simulation engine (NCSIM)), it is hard to predict its pattern of resulting distribution of bandwidth by the simulator thread arbitration. In many cases, the patterns desired in a test scenario may not be accomplished as the simulator might give a different distribution than what was required. This can lead to missing multiple traffic scenarios, specifically deadlock and starvation related. We invented a component (namely Flow Manager Verification IP) to be intervening between the application (test case) and the protocol VIP (with UVM sequencer) to control the bandwidth per thread/virtual channel/flow. The Flow Manager has knobs visible to the UVM sequence/test to configure the required distribution of rate per thread/virtual channel/flow. This works seamlessly and produces rate stimuli to further harness the Design Under Test (DUT) with asymmetric inputs compared to the programmed bandwidth/Quality of Service (QoS) distributions in the Design Under Test.

Keywords: flow manager, UVM sequencer, rated traffic generation, quality of service

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Authors: Piotr-Robert Lazik, Lena Teichmann, Harald Garrecht

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Many concrete technologists are looking for a solution to replace fly ashes as a component that occurs as a major component of many types of concrete. The importance of such a component is clear -it saves cement and reduces the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere that occurs during cement production. For example, the amount of cement in ultrahigh strength concrete (UHPC) is approximately 700-800 kg/m³ in normal concrete up to 350 kg/m³. For this reason, it is easy to follow that the use of components like fly ashes or wood ashes protect the environment. The newest investigations carried out at the University of Stuttgart have clearly shown that the use of wood ashes with appropriate pre-treatment in concrete has a positive effect. German-wide, there are hundreds of tons of wood ashes, which can be used in a wide range of construction materials. The strengths of the concrete with different types of cement and with wood ashes have given the same or, in some cases, better results than those with the use of fly ashes. There are many areas in building construction, where the clays of wood ashes can be used as a by-product. This does not only require a strength test but also, for example, an examination of structural-physical parameters. Especially the heat and moisture characteristics have an important role in times of energy-efficient construction. These are therefore determined and then compared with the characteristics of the concretes with fly ashes. The University of Stuttgart has decided to investigate the buildings' physical properties of different types of concrete with wood ashes to find their application in construction. After the examination of the buildings' physical properties in combination with strength tests, it is possible to determine in which field of civil engineering, this type of concrete can be used.

Keywords: fly ashes, wood ashes, structural-physical parameters, UHPC

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Authors: Pavel Shcherban, Viktoria Ivanova, Alexander Neprokin, Vladislav Golovanov

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Currently, LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft» is implementing a comprehensive program for the development of offshore fields of the Kaliningrad region. This is largely associated with the depletion of the resource base of land in the region, as well as the positive results of geological investigation surrounding the Baltic Sea area and the data on the volume of hydrocarbon recovery from a single offshore field are working on the Kaliningrad region – D-6 «Kravtsovskoye».The article analyzes the main stages of the LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft»’s development program for the development of the hydrocarbon resources of the region's shelf and suggests an optimization algorithm that allows managing a multi-criteria process of development of shelf deposits. The algorithm is formed on the basis of the problem of sequential decision making, which is a section of dynamic programming. Application of the algorithm during the consolidation of the initial data, the elaboration of project documentation, the further exploration and development of offshore fields will allow to optimize the complex of technical and technological solutions and increase the economic efficiency of the field development project implemented by LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft».

Keywords: offshore fields of hydrocarbons of the Baltic Sea, development of offshore oil and gas fields, optimization of the field development scheme, solution of multicriteria tasks in oil and gas complex, quality management in oil and gas complex

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Authors: Muhammad Younis Laghari

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Microbial communities play the most important role in aquatic ecosystems. These microbes have a great role in fish growth and aquaculture production. Unfortunately, the farmers are unaware of these useful creatures. Nowadays, the trend of fish farming is developed to re-circulatory aquaculture system (RAS) to increase production and reduce the investment/management cost to increase the profit. However, sometimes, it has been observed that even the growth of fish is decreased in RAS without apparent changes in water quality. There is a great importance of microorganisms in aquaculture, where they occur naturally. However, they can be added artificially by applying different roles. Even these microbes play an important role in the degradation of organic matter and recycling nutrients, along with nutritional support to fish. Even some microorganisms may protect fish and larvae against diseases. But if not managed/utilized properly, they may cause to infect or kill the fish and their larvae. However, manipulating the microbes and monitoring them in aquaculture systems hold great potential to assess and improve the water quality as well as to control the development of microbial infections. While there is an utmost need for research to determine the microbiomes of healthy aquaculture systems, we also need to develop authentic methods for the successful manipulation of microbes as well as engineer these microbiomes. Hence, we should develop a plan to utilize and get full advantage from these microbial interactions for the successful management of aquaculture through advanced research and technology.

Keywords: aquaculture, ecology system, degradation, microbes, nutrient recycling, water quality

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Authors: Benniche Omar

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We are concerned with abstract fully nonlinear differential equations having the form y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)) where A is an m—dissipative operator (possibly multi—valued) defined on a subset D(A) of a Banach space X with values in X and f is a given function defined on I×X with values in X. We consider a graph K in I×X. We recall that K is said to be viable with respect to the above abstract differential equation if for each initial data in K there exists at least one trajectory starting from that initial data and remaining in K at least for a short time. The viability problem has been studied by many authors by using various techniques and frames. If K is closed, it is shown that a tangency condition, which is mainly linked to the dynamic, is crucial for viability. In the case when X is infinite dimensional, compactness and convexity assumptions are needed. In this paper, we are concerned with the notion of near viability for a given graph K with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)). Roughly speaking, the graph K is said to be near viable with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)), if for each initial data in K there exists at least one trajectory remaining arbitrary close to K at least for short time. It is interesting to note that the near viability is equivalent to an appropriate tangency condition under mild assumptions on the dynamic. Adding natural convexity and compactness assumptions on the dynamic, we may recover the (exact) viability. Here we investigate near viability for a graph K in I×X with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)) where A and f are as above. We emphasis that the t—dependence on the perturbation f leads us to introduce a new tangency concept. In the base of a tangency conditions expressed in terms of that tangency concept, we formulate criteria for K to be near viable with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)). As application, an abstract null—controllability theorem is given.

Keywords: abstract differential equation, graph, tangency condition, viability

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