Search results for: goal programming (GP)

Authors: Diego De Castro Rodrigues, Marcelo Lisboa Rocha, Daniela M. De Q. Trevisan, Marcos Dias Da Conceicao, Gabriel Rosa, Rommel M. Barbosa

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The use of association rules algorithms within data mining is recognized as being of great value in the knowledge discovery in databases. Very often, the number of rules generated is high, sometimes even in databases with small volume, so the success in the analysis of results can be hampered by this quantity. The purpose of this research is to present a method for reducing the quantity of rules generated with association algorithms. Therefore, a computational algorithm was developed with the use of a Weka Application Programming Interface, which allows the execution of the method on different types of databases. After the development, tests were carried out on three types of databases: synthetic, model, and real. Efficient results were obtained in reducing the number of rules, where the worst case presented a gain of more than 50%, considering the concepts of support, confidence, and lift as measures. This study concluded that the proposed model is feasible and quite interesting, contributing to the analysis of the results of association rules generated from the use of algorithms.

Keywords: data mining, association rules, rules reduction, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Nihal Atif Salim

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To improve the quality of life in cities, a variety of interventions are used. Noise is a substantial and important sort of pollution that has a negative impact on the urban environment and human health. According to the complaint survey, it ranks second among environmental contamination complaints (conducted by EEAA in 2019). The most significant source of noise in the city is traffic noise. In order to improve the sound urban environment, many physical techniques are applied. In the local area, noise barriers are considered as one of the most appropriate physical techniques along existing traffic routes. Alexandria is Egypt's second-largest city after Cairo. It is located along the Mediterranean Sea, and El- Gish Road is one of the city's main arteries. It impacts the waterfront promenade that extends along with the city by a high level of traffic noise. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the design considerations for the most appropriate noise barrier type along with the promenade, with the goal of improving the Quality of Life (QOL) and the sonic urban environment specifically. The proposed methodology focuses on how noise affects human perception and the environment. Then it delves into the various physical noise control approaches. After that, the paper discusses sustainable design decisions making. Finally, look into the importance of incorporating sustainability into design decisions making. Three stages will be followed in the case study. The first stage involves doing a site inspection and using specific sound measurement equipment (a noise level meter) to measure the noise level along the promenade at many sites, and the findings will be shown on a noise map. The second step is to inquire about the site's user experience. The third step is to investigate the various types of noise barriers and their effects on QOL along existing routes in order to select the most appropriate type. The goal of this research is to evaluate the suitable design of noise barriers that fulfill environmental and social perceptions while maintaining a balanced approach to the noise issue in order to improve QOL along existing roadways in the local area.

Keywords: noise pollution, sonic urban environment, traffic noise, noise barrier, acoustic sustainability, noise reduction techniques

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Authors: Fatima Al-Aswadi, Chan Yong

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With the large volume of unstructured data that increases day by day on the web, the motivation of representing the knowledge in this data in the machine processable form is increased. Ontology is one of the major cornerstones of representing the information in a more meaningful way on the semantic Web. The goal of Ontology learning from text is to elicit and represent domain knowledge in the machine readable form. This paper aims to give a follow-up review on the ontology learning systems from text and some of their defects. Furthermore, it discusses how far the ontology learning process will enhance in the future.

Keywords: concept discovery, deep learning, ontology learning, semantic relation, semantic web

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Authors: Zakir Husain

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Main objective of a power transformer design optimization problem requires minimizing the total overall cost and/or mass of the winding and core material by satisfying all possible constraints obligatory by the standards and transformer user requirement. The constraints include appropriate limits on winding fill factor, temperature rise, efficiency, no-load current and voltage regulation. The design optimizations tasks are a constrained minimum cost and/or mass solution by optimally setting the parameters, geometry and require magnetic properties of the transformer. In this paper, present the above design problems have been formulated by using genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) on the MATLAB platform. The importance of the presented approach is stems for two main features. First, proposed technique provides reliable and efficient solution for the problem of design optimization with several variables. Second, it guaranteed to obtained solution is global optimum. This paper includes a demonstration of the application of the genetic programming GP technique to transformer design.

Keywords: optimization, power transformer, genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing technique (SA)

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Authors: Abul Bashar

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The recent surge in the adoption of cloud computing systems by various organizations has brought forth the challenge of evaluating their performance. One of the major issues faced by the cloud service providers and customers is to assess the ability of cloud computing systems to provide the desired services in accordance to the QoS and SLA constraints. To this end, an opportunity exists to develop means to ensure that the desired performance levels of such systems are met under simulated environments. This will eventually minimize the service disruptions and performance degradation issues during the commissioning and operational phase of cloud computing infrastructure. However, it is observed that several simulators and modelers are available for simulating the cloud computing systems. Therefore, this paper presents a critical evaluation of the state-of-the-art modeling and simulation frameworks applicable to cloud computing systems. It compares the prominent simulation frameworks in terms of the API features, programming flexibility, operating system requirements, supported services, licensing needs and popularity. Subsequently, it provides recommendations regarding the choice of the most appropriate framework for researchers, administrators and managers of cloud computing systems.

Keywords: cloud computing, modeling framework, performance evaluation, simulation tools

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Authors: Lakshmi Prayaga, Chandra Prayaga. Aaron Wade, Gopi Shankar Mallu, Harsha Satya Pola

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Synthetic data generated by Generative Adversarial Networks and Autoencoders is becoming more common to combat the problem of insufficient data for research purposes. However, generating synthetic data is a tedious task requiring extensive mathematical and programming background. Open-source platforms such as the Synthetic Data Vault (SDV) and Mostly AI have offered a platform that is user-friendly and accessible to non-technical professionals to generate synthetic data to augment existing data for further analysis. The SDV also provides for additions to the generic GAN, such as the Gaussian copula. We present the results from two synthetic data sets (CTGAN data and CTGAN with Gaussian Copula) generated by the SDV and report the findings. The results indicate that the ROC and AUC curves for the data generated by adding the layer of Gaussian copula are much higher than the data generated by the CTGAN.

Keywords: synthetic data generation, generative adversarial networks, conditional tabular GAN, Gaussian copula

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Authors: M. Strémy, P. Závacký, P. Cuninka, M. Juhás

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Main goal of this paper is to introduce our design of private cloud for storing large amount of data, especially pictures, and to provide good technological backend for data analysis based on parallel processing and business intelligence. We have tested hypervisors, cloud management tools, storage for storing all data and Hadoop to provide data analysis on unstructured data. Providing high availability, virtual network management, logical separation of projects and also rapid deployment of physical servers to our environment was also needed.

Keywords: cloud, glusterfs, hadoop, juju, kvm, maas, openstack, virtualization

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Authors: Yawei Liang

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Threat from cruise missiles is among the most dangerous considerations to a warship in the modern era: anti-ship cruise missiles are fast, accurate, and extremely destructive. In this paper, the goal was to use an object-orientated environment to program a simulation to model a scenario in which a lone frigate is attacked by a wave of missiles fired at given intervals. The parameters of the simulation are modified to examine the relationships between different variables in the situation, and an analysis is performed on various aspects of the defending ship’s equipment. Finally, the results are presented, along with a brief discussion.

Keywords: discrete event simulation, Monte Carlo simulation, naval resource management, weapon-target allocation/assignment

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Authors: Abdulrazak Jinadu Otaru, Ahmed Almulhim, Hassan Alhassan, Mohammed Sabri

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Saudi Arabia is host to a state-owned oil and gas corporation, known as Saudi ARAMCO, that is responsible for the highest emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) due to the heavy reliance on fossil fuels as an energy source for various sectors such as transportation, aerospace, manufacturing, and residential use. Unfortunately, the detrimental consequences of CO₂ emissions include escalating temperatures in the Middle East region, posing significant obstacles in terms of food security and water scarcity for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels by 50 %, this study focuses on designing a plant that will produce approximately 100,000 metric tons per year (MTPY) of green hydrogen (H₂) using brine as the primary feedstock. The proposed facility incorporates a double electrolytic technology that first separates brine or sodium chloride (NaCl) into sodium hydroxide, hydrogen gas, and chlorine gas. The sodium hydroxide is then used as an electrolyte in the splitting of water molecules through the supply of electrical energy in a second-stage electrolyser to produce green hydrogen. The study encompasses a comprehensive analysis of process descriptions and flow diagrams, as well as materials and energy balances. It also includes equipment design and specification, cost analysis, and considerations for safety and environmental impact. The design capitalizes on the abundant brine supply, a byproduct of the world's largest desalination plant located in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the design incorporates the use of available renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, to power the proposed plant. This approach not only helps reduce carbon emissions but also aligns with Saudi Arabia's energy transition policy. Furthermore, it supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11) and Climate Action (Goal 13), benefiting not only Saudi Arabia but also other countries in the Middle East.

Keywords: plant design, electrolysis, brine, sodium hydroxide, chlorine gas, green hydrogen

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Authors: Hamad Aljassmi, Sangwon Han

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Various solutions for preventing construction defects have been suggested. However, a construction company may have difficulties adopting all these suggestions due to financial and practical constraints. Based on this recognition, this paper aims to identify the most significant defect causes and formulate their defect generation mechanism in order to help a construction company to set priorities of its defect prevention strategies. For this goal, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 106 industry professionals and identified five most significant causes including: (1) organizational culture, (2) time pressure and constraints, (3) workplace quality system, (4) financial constraints upon operational expenses and (5) inadequate employee training or learning opportunities.

Keywords: defect, quality, failure, risk

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Authors: Selcuk Aslan, Dervis Karaboga, Celal Ozturk

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Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is one of the most successful swarm intelligence based metaheuristics. It has been applied to a number of constrained or unconstrained numerical and combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, we presented a parallelized version of ABC algorithm by adapting employed and onlooker bee phases to the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) platform which is a graphical processing unit (GPU) programming environment by NVIDIA. The execution speed and obtained results of the proposed approach and sequential version of ABC algorithm are compared on functions that are typically used as benchmarks for optimization algorithms. Tests on standard benchmark functions with different colony size and number of parameters showed that proposed parallelization approach for ABC algorithm decreases the execution time consumed by the employed and onlooker bee phases in total and achieved similar or better quality of the results compared to the standard sequential implementation of the ABC algorithm.

Keywords: Artificial Bee Colony algorithm, GPU computing, swarm intelligence, parallelization

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Authors: Zoe Yang, Dena Shenk

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The goal of this research was to highlight stories from voices that are typically disregarded. Five older Asian Americans, who immigrated from Cambodia, Taiwan, and China, were interviewed in person, over Zoom, or through a phone call. Subjects were asked about their opinions towards aging and housing choices. Various Asian American stories reveal factors that contribute to the acceptance or rejection of aging. Through these interviews and research on cultural differences towards aging, findings indicate that personality, age, background, and health status affect one's relationship with housing choices and filial piety.

Keywords: assisted living, filial piety, housing choices, independent living

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Authors: Aliaksandr Huminski

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Semantic Role Labeling (SRL) as shallow semantic parsing approach includes recognition and labeling arguments of a verb in a sentence. Verb participants are linked with specific semantic roles (Agent, Patient, Instrument, Location, etc.). Thus, SRL can answer on key questions such as ‘Who’, ‘When’, ‘What’, ‘Where’ in a text and it is widely applied in dialog systems, question-answering, named entity recognition, information retrieval, and other fields of NLP. However, SRL has the following flaw: Two sentences with identical (or almost identical) meaning can have different semantic role structures. Let consider 2 sentences: (1) John put butter on the bread. (2) John buttered the bread. SRL for (1) and (2) will be significantly different. For the verb put in (1) it is [Agent + Patient + Goal], but for the verb butter in (2) it is [Agent + Goal]. It happens because of one of the most interesting and intriguing features of a verb: Its ability to capture participants as in the case of the verb butter, or their features as, say, in the case of the verb drink where the participant’s feature being liquid is shared with the verb. This capture looks like a total fusion of meaning and cannot be decomposed in direct way (in comparison with compound verbs like babysit or breastfeed). From this perspective, SRL looks really shallow to represent semantic structure. If the key point in semantic representation is an opportunity to use it for making inferences and finding hidden reasons, it assumes by default that two different but semantically identical sentences must have the same semantic structure. Otherwise we will have different inferences from the same meaning. To overcome the above-mentioned flaw, the following approach is suggested. Assume that: P is a participant of relation; F is a feature of a participant; Vcp is a verb that captures a participant; Vcf is a verb that captures a feature of a participant; Vpr is a primitive verb or a verb that does not capture any participant and represents only a relation. In another word, a primitive verb is a verb whose meaning does not include meanings from its surroundings. Then Vcp and Vcf can be decomposed as: Vcp = Vpr +P; Vcf = Vpr +F. If all Vcp and Vcf will be represented this way, then primitive verbs Vpr can be considered as a canonical form for SRL. As a result of that, there will be no hidden participants caught by a verb since all participants will be explicitly unfolded. An obvious example of Vpr is the verb go, which represents pure movement. In this case the verb drink can be represented as man-made movement of liquid into specific direction. Extraction and using primitive verbs for SRL create a canonical representation unique for semantically identical sentences. It leads to the unification of semantic representation. In this case, the critical flaw related to SRL will be resolved.

Keywords: decomposition, labeling, primitive verbs, semantic roles

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Authors: Gaurav Vaidya, N. R. Mandal

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UN Summit, 2000 had resolved to provide access to sanitation to whole humanity as part of ‘Millennium Development Goals -2015’. However, more than one third of world’s population still did not have the access to basic sanitation facilities by 2015. Therefore, it will be a gigantic challenge to achieve goal-6 of ‘UN Sustainable Development Goal’ to ensure availability and sustainable management of sanitation for all by the year 2030. Countries attempt to find out own ways of meeting this challenge of providing access to safe sanitation and as part of monitoring the actions have prepared varied types of ‘performance assessment frameworks (PAF)’. India introduced Service Level Benchmarking (SLB) in 2010 to set targets and achieve the goals of NUSP. Further, a method of reviewing performance was introduced as ‘Swachh Sarvekshan’ (Cleanliness Surveys) in 2016 and in 2017 guidelines for the same was revised. This study, as a first step, reviews the documents in use in India with a conclusion that the frameworks adopted are based on target setting, financial allocation and performance in achieving the targets set. However, it does not focus upon sanitation needs holistically i.e., areas and aspects not targeted through projects are not covered in the performance assessment. In this context, as a second step, this study reviews literature available on performance assessment frameworks for urban sanitation in selected other countries and compares the same with that in India. The outcome of the comparative review resulted in identification of unaddressed aspects as well as inadequacy of parameters in Indian context. Thirdly, in an attempt to restructure the performance assessment process and develop an index in urban sanitation, researches done in other urban services such as health and education were studied focusing on methods of measuring under-performance. As a fourth step, a tentative modified framework is suggested with the help of understanding drawn from above for urban sanitation using stages of Urban Sanitation Service Chain Management (SSCM) and modified set of parameters drawn from the literature review in the first and second steps. This paper reviews existing literature on SSCM procedures, Performance Index in sanitation and other urban services and identifies a tentative list of parameters and a framework for measuring under-performance in sanitation services. This may aid in preparation of a Service Delivery Under-performance Index (SDUI) in future.

Keywords: assessment, performance, sanitation, services

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Authors: Supratman Ahman Maedi

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The construction of knowledge is the goal of learning. The purpose of this research is to know how the role of Piaget theory in allegation via analogy reasoning. This study uses Think out loads when troubleshooting. To explore conjecturing via analogical reasoning is given the question of open analogy. The result: conjecture via analogical reasoning has been done by students in the construction of knowledge, in conjecture there are differences in thinking flow depending on the basic knowledge of the students, in the construction of knowledge occurs assimilation and accommodation problems, strategies and relationships.

Keywords: analogical reasoning, conjecturing, knowledge construction, Piaget's theory

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Authors: Yasaman Esfandiari

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Mechanical engineering has always dealt with amplification of the input power in power trains. One of the ways to achieve this goal is to use gears to change the amplitude and direction of the torque and the speed. However, the gears should be optimally designed to best achieve these objectives. In this study, helical gear systems are optimized to achieve maximum power. Material selection, space restriction, available facilities for manufacturing, the probability of tooth breakage, and tooth wear are taken into account and governing equations are derived. Finally, a Matlab code was generated to solve the optimization problem and the results are verified.

Keywords: design, gears, Matlab, optimization

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Authors: Danielle Klassen, Reiko Yeap, Margo Schmitt-Boshnick, Scott Oddie

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The development of the 7-week Alberta Happiness Basics program was initiated in 2010 in response to the need for community mental health programming. This provincial wide program aims to increase overall happiness and reduce negative thoughts and feelings through a positive psychology intervention. While the 7-week program has proven effective, a shortened 4-week program has additionally been developed to address client needs. In this study, participants were interviewed to determine if the 4- and 7-week programs had similar success of producing lasting behavior change at 3, 6, and 9 months post-program. A health quality of life (HQOL) measure was also used to compare the two programs and examine patient outcomes. Quantitative and qualitative analysis showed significant improvements in HQOL and sustainable behavior change for both programs. Findings indicate that the shorter, patient-centered program was effective in increasing happiness and reducing negative thoughts and feelings.

Keywords: primary care, mental health, depression, short duration

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Authors: Basil Manos, Thomas Bournaris, Christina Moulogianni

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The European agricultural policy supports all member states to apply agricultural development plans for the development of their agricultural sectors. A specific measure of the agricultural development plans refers to young people in order to enter into the agricultural sector. This measure helps the participating young farmers in achieving maximum efficiency, using methods and environmentally friendly practices, by altering their farm plans. This study applies a Multicriteria Mathematical Programming (MCDA) model for the young farmers to find farm plans that achieve the maximum gross margin and the minimum environmental impacts (less use of fertilizers and irrigation water). The analysis was made in the region of Central Macedonia, Greece, among young farmers who have participated in the “Setting up Young Farmers” measure during 2007-2010. The analysis includes the implementation of the MCDA model for the farm plans optimization and the comparison of selected environmental indicators with those of the existent situation.

Keywords: multicriteria, optimum farm plans, environmental impacts, sustainable management

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Authors: Abdulkarim Yusuf

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Motivation: A crucial but difficult goal for governments and policymakers in Nigeria in recent years has been the sustainability of economic growth. This goal must be accomplished by regulating or lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which calls for switching to a low- or zero-carbon production system. The lack of in-depth empirical studies on the environmental impact of socioeconomic variables on Nigeria and a number of unresolved issues from earlier research is what led to the current study. Objective: This study fills an important empirical gap by investigating the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and the long and short-run dynamic impact of socioeconomic variables on ecological sustainability in Nigeria. Data and method: Annual time series data covering the period 1980 to 2020 and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique in the presence of structural breaks were adopted for this study. Results: The empirical findings support the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Nigeria in the long and short run. Energy consumption and total import exacerbate environmental deterioration in the long and short run, whereas total export improves environmental quality in the long and short run. Financial development, which contributed to a conspicuous decrease in the level of environmental destruction in the long run, escalated it in the short run. In contrast, urbanization caused a significant increase in environmental damage in the long run but motivated a decrease in biodiversity loss in the short run. Implications: The government, policymakers, and all energy stakeholders should take additional measures to ensure the implementation and diversification of energy sources to accommodate more renewable energy sources that emit less carbon in order to promote efficiency in Nigeria's production processes and lower carbon emissions. In order to promote the production and trade of environmentally friendly goods, they should also revise and strengthen environmental policies. With affordable, dependable, and sustainable energy use for higher productivity and inclusive growth, Nigeria will be able to achieve its long-term development goals of good health and wellbeing.

Keywords: economic growth, energy consumption, environmental degradation, environmental Kuznets curve, urbanization, Nigeria

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Authors: Mohsen Najarchi

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This research was carried out in five fields (5-15 hectares) in Arak located in center of Iran, to determine optimum level of water consumed for Barely in four stages growth (vegetative, yield formation, flowering, and ripening). Actual evapotranspiration was calculated using measured water requirement in the fields. Five levels of water requirement equal to 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 percents formed the treatments. To determine the optimum level of water requirement linear programming was used. The study showed 60 percent water requirement (40 percent deficit irrigation) has been the optimum level of irrigation for winter wheat in four stages of growth. Comparison between all of the treatments indicated above with normal condition (100% water requirement) shows increasing in water use efficiency. Although 40% deficit irrigation treatment lead to decrease of 38% in yield, net benefit was increasing in 11.37%. Furthermore, in comparison with normal condition, 70% of water requirement increased water use efficiency as 30%.

Keywords: optimum, deficit irrigation, water use efficiency, evapotranspiration

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Authors: F. Uriel, M. M. Fernandez Liporace

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In the last decade, academic achievement in higher education has become a topic of agenda in Argentina, regarding the high figures of adjustment problems, academic failure and dropout, and the low graduation rates in the context of massive classes and traditional teaching methods. Psychological variables, such as perceived social support, academic motivation and learning styles and strategies have much to offer since their measurement by tests allows a proper diagnose of their influence on academic achievement. Framed in a major research, several studies analysed multiple samples, totalizing 5135 students attending Argentinean public universities. The first goal was aimed at the identification of statistically significant differences in psychological variables -perceived social support, learning styles, learning strategies, and academic motivation- by age, gender, and degree of academic advance (freshmen versus sophomores). Thus, an inferential group differences study for each psychological dependent variable was developed by means of student’s T tests, given the features of data distribution. The second goal, aimed at examining associations between the four psychological variables on the one hand, and academic achievement on the other, was responded by correlational studies, calculating Pearson’s coefficients, employing grades as the quantitative indicator of academic achievement. The positive and significant results that were obtained led to the formulation of different predictive models of academic achievement which had to be tested in terms of adjustment and predictive power. These models took the four psychological variables above mentioned as predictors, using regression equations, examining predictors individually, in groups of two, and together, analysing indirect effects as well, and adding the degree of academic advance and gender, which had shown their importance within the first goal’s findings. The most relevant results were: first, gender showed no influence on any dependent variable. Second, only good achievers perceived high social support from teachers, and male students were prone to perceive less social support. Third, freshmen exhibited a pragmatic learning style, preferring unstructured environments, the use of examples and simultaneous-visual processing in learning, whereas sophomores manifest an assimilative learning style, choosing sequential and analytic processing modes. Despite these features, freshmen have to deal with abstract contents and sophomores, with practical learning situations due to study programs in force. Fifth, no differences in academic motivation were found between freshmen and sophomores. However, the latter employ a higher number of more efficient learning strategies. Sixth, freshmen low achievers lack intrinsic motivation. Seventh, models testing showed that social support, learning styles and academic motivation influence learning strategies, which affect academic achievement in freshmen, particularly males; only learning styles influence achievement in sophomores of both genders with direct effects. These findings led to conclude that educational psychologists, education specialists, teachers, and universities must plan urgent and major changes. These must be applied in renewed and better study programs, syllabi and classes, as well as tutoring and training systems. Such developments should be targeted to the support and empowerment of students in their academic pathways, and therefore to the upgrade of learning quality, especially in the case of freshmen, male freshmen, and low achievers.

Keywords: academic achievement, academic motivation, coping, learning strategies, learning styles, perceived social support

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Authors: Atefeh Saljooghi Khoshkar, Jafar Hassanpour

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One of the main problems of the design stage relating to many tunneling projects is the lack of an appropriate standard for the provision of engineering geological data in a predefined format. In particular, this is more reflected in highway and railroad tunnel projects in which there is a number of tunnels and different professional teams involved. In this regard, comprehensive software needs to be designed using the accepted methods in order to help engineering geologists to prepare standard reports, which contain sufficient input data for the design stage. Regarding this necessity, applied software has been designed using macro capabilities and Visual Basic programming language (VBA) through Microsoft Excel. In this software, all of the engineering geological input data, which are required for designing different parts of tunnels, such as discontinuities properties, rock mass strength parameters, rock mass classification systems, boreability classification, the penetration rate, and so forth, can be calculated and reported in a standard format.

Keywords: engineering geology, rock mass classification, rock mechanic, tunnel

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Authors: Olgha Giorgishvili

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The work is mainly concerned with the determination of modulus of deformation by laboratory method. It is known that a modulus of deformation is defining by laboratory and field methods. By laboratory method the modulus of deformation is defined in the compressive devices. Our goal is to conduct experiments by both methods and finally make to interpret the obtained results. In this article is considered the definition by new offered laboratory method of deformation modulus that is closer to the real deformation modulus. Finally, the obtained results gives the possibility to us to raise the issue of change the state norms for determining ground by laboratory method.

Keywords: building, soil mechanic, deformation moulus, compression methods

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Authors: Kim Jin-OK, Lee Jin-Eui, Han Seung-Hoon, Kim Nam-Jo

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This study aimed to analyze the effect of the motivation of Chinese tourists to visit North Korea on their decision making process. Chinese tourists account for a considerable portion of foreign tourists in the world, while North Korea is the favorite tourist attraction of Chinese tourists. The motivation to visit North Korea was divided into three factors: the redness, which is the modern cultural heritage of Communism based on the red tourism accounting for the significant portion of domestic tourism, the novelty of the special environment of North Korean society, and the convenience of tour to North Korea in terms of geographical distance and policy of China. Red tourism refers to visiting the places of revolutionary events, monuments, artifacts and the residences of previous communist leaders, and other places related to the past Chinese Communist Party. As a revolutionary tourism, red tourism has recently been taking place in the old communist countries to recall their memories on the revolutionary places in China, as well as in North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia, Bulgaria, Cuba, etc. In order to examine the effect of the segmented motivations on the revisit intention of Chinese tourists who have experienced a tour to North Korea, this study employed the model of goal-directed behavior, a model developed by adding a variable of emotion to the theory of planned behavior, which has a strong explanatory power on the decision making process of people in social science. For achieving the aim of the study, the data was collected through the survey in Dandong, China against Chinese tourists who have visited North Korea. The results of this study found that not only the novelty of North Korea, but also the redness, which accounts for the largest proportion in the domestic tourism, are significantly affecting overseas tour of Chinese tourists at this time point where overseas tour of Chinese tourists continue to increase. The results, therefore, suggest that the old communist countries, including those in Asia, need an emotional promotion strategy that stimulates nostalgia by focusing on the redness of the modern cultural heritage of Communism to attract Chinese tourists.

Keywords: model of goal-directed behavior, modern cultural heritage, North Korea, red tourism

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Authors: Dianne Lyneth Alavado

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At the turn of the millennium, development paradigms in the international scene revolved around one goal: elimination of global poverty without comprising human rights. One measure which achieved high endorsement and visibility in the world of work is the Decent Work Agenda (DWA) championed by the United Nation’s (UN) specialized agency for work, the International Labour Organization (ILO). The DWA has been thoroughly promoted and recommended as an ingredient of development planning and a poverty reduction strategy, particularly in developing countries such as the Philippines. The global imperative of economic growth is measurable not only in the numbers raked in by countries in terms of expanding economy but also by the development and realization of the full capacities of their people. Decent work (DW), as an outcome and not just a development approach, promises poverty eradication by means of providing both quantity and quality work that is accompanied by rights, representation, and protection. As a party to these international pacts, the Philippines is expected to heed the call towards a world free from poverty through well-endorsed measures such as the DWA with the aid of multilateral and donor organizations such as the ILO. This study aims to assess the capacity and readiness of the Philippines to achieve the goals of the DWA. This is a qualitative research using the sociological and juridical lens in the desk analysis of existing Philippine laws, policies, and programs vis-à-vis decent work indicators set forth by the ILO. Interview with experts on the Philippine labor situation is conducted for further validation. The paper identifies gaps within the Philippine legal system and its collection of laws, acts, presidential decrees, department orders and other policy instruments aimed towards achieving the goals of the DWA. Among the major findings of this paper are: the predisposition of Philippine labor laws towards the formal sector; the need for alternative solutions for the informal sector veering away from the usual dole-outs and livelihood projects; the needs for evaluation of policies and programs that are usually self-evaluated; the minimal reach of the labour inspectorate which ensures decent work; and the lack of substantial penalty for non-compliance with labor laws. The paper concludes with policy implications and recommendations towards addressing the potholes on the road to Decent Work.

Keywords: decent work agenda, labor laws, millennium development goals, poverty eradication, sustainable development goal

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Authors: Francis E. Idachaba, Sarah Uyimeh Tommy

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This paper describes the design of an RFID laptop monitoring and management system. Laptops embedded with RFID chips are monitored and tracked to provide a monitoring system for the purpose of tracking as well as monitoring movement of the laptops in and out of a building. The proposed system is implemented with both hardware and software components. The hardware architecture consists of RFID passive tag, RFID module (reader), and a server hosting the application and database. The RFID readers are distributed at major exits of a building or premises. The tags are programmed with owner laptop details are concealed in the laptops. The software architecture consists of application software that has the APIs (Applications Programming Interface) necessary to interface the RFID system with the PC, to achieve automated laptop monitoring system. A friendly graphic user interface (GUI) and a database that saves all readings and owners details. The system is capable of reducing laptop theft especially in students’ hostels as laptops can be monitored as they are taken either in or out of the building.

Keywords: asset tracking, GUI, laptop monitoring, radio frequency identification, passive tags

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Authors: Ciaran Friel, Jerry Suls, Patrick Robles, Frank Vicari, Joan Duer-Hefele, Karina W. Davidson

Abstract:

Physical activity guidelines focus on increasing moderate intensity activity for older adults, but adherence to recommendations remains low. This is despite the fact that scientific evidence supports that any increase in physical activity is positively correlated with health benefits. Behavior change techniques (BCTs) have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity. This pilot study uses a Personalized Trials (N-of-1) design to evaluate the efficacy of using four BCTs to promote an increase in low-intensity physical activity (2,000 steps of walking per day) in adults aged 45-75 years old. The 4 BCTs tested were goal setting, action planning, feedback, and self-monitoring. BCTs were tested in random order and delivered by text message prompts requiring participant response. The study recruited health system employees in the target age range, without mobility restrictions and demonstrating interest in increasing their daily activity by a minimum of 2,000 steps per day for a minimum of five days per week. Participants were sent a Fitbit Charge 4 fitness tracker with an established study account and password. Participants were recommended to wear the Fitbit device 24/7, but were required to wear it for a minimum of ten hours per day. Baseline physical activity was measured by the Fitbit for two weeks. Participants then engaged with a clinical research coordinator to review comprehension of the text message content and required actions for each of the BCTs to be tested. Participants then selected a consistent daily time in which they would receive their text message prompt. In the 8 week intervention phase of the study, participants received each of the four BCTs, in random order, for a two week period. Text message prompts were delivered daily at a time selected by the participant. All prompts required an interactive response from participants and may have included recording their detailed plan for walking or daily step goal (action planning, goal setting). Additionally, participants may have been directed to a study dashboard to view their step counts or compare themselves with peers (self-monitoring, feedback). At the end of each two week testing interval, participants were asked to complete the Self-Efficacy for Walking Scale (SEW_Dur), a validated measure that assesses the participant’s confidence in walking incremental distances and a survey measuring their satisfaction with the individual BCT that they tested. At the end of their trial, participants received a personalized summary of their step data in response to each individual BCT. Analysis will examine the novel individual-level heterogeneity of treatment effect made possible by N-of-1 design, and pool results across participants to efficiently estimate the overall efficacy of the selected behavioral change techniques in increasing low-intensity walking by 2,000 steps, 5 days per week. Self-efficacy will be explored as the likely mechanism of action prompting behavior change. This study will inform the providers and demonstrate the feasibility of N-of-1 study design to effectively promote physical activity as a component of healthy aging.

Keywords: aging, exercise, habit, walking

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Mustafa Al-Refai

Abstract:

This paper presents the optimal design and simulation of a grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) system to supply electric power to meet the energy demand by Electrical Department in University of Tripoli Libya. Solar radiation is the key factor determining electricity produced by photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper is designed to develop a novel method to calculate the solar photovoltaic generation capacity on the basis of Mean Global Solar Radiation data available for Tripoli Libya and finally develop a system design of possible plant capacity for the available roof area. MatLab/Simulink Programming tools and monthly average solar radiation data are used for this design and simulation. The specifications of equipments are provided based on the availability of the components in the market. Simulation results and analyses are presented to validate the proposed system configuration.

Keywords: photovoltaic (PV), grid, Simulink, solar energy, power plant, solar irradiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Boris Melnikov, Ye Zhang, Dmitrii Chaikovskii

Abstract:

We continue to consider one of the cybernetic methods in computational biology related to the study of DNA chains. Namely, we are considering the problem of reconstructing the not fully filled distance matrix of DNA chains. When applied in a programming context, it is revealed that with a modern computer of average capabilities, creating even a small-sized distance matrix for mitochondrial DNA sequences is quite time-consuming with standard algorithms. As the size of the matrix grows larger, the computational effort required increases significantly, potentially spanning several weeks to months of non-stop computer processing. Hence, calculating the distance matrix on conventional computers is hardly feasible, and supercomputers are usually not available. Therefore, we started publishing our variants of the algorithms for calculating the distance between two DNA chains; then, we published algorithms for restoring partially filled matrices, i.e., the inverse problem of matrix processing. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for restoring the distance matrix for DNA chains, and the primary focus is on enhancing the algorithms that shape the greedy function within the branches and boundaries method framework.

Keywords: DNA chains, distance matrix, optimization problem, restoring algorithm, greedy algorithm, heuristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Amal E. Ahmed, Levent Trabzon

Abstract:

Due to the low concentration of the analytes in biological samples, the use of Biological Microelectromechanical System (Bio-MEMS) biosensors for biomolecules detection results in a minuscule output signal that is not good enough for practical applications. In response to this, a need has arisen for an optimized biosensor capable of giving high output signal in response the detection of few analytes in the sample; the ultimate goal is being able to convert the attachment of a single biomolecule into a measurable quantity. For this purpose, MEMS microcantilevers based biosensors emerged as a promising sensing solution because it is simple, cheap, very sensitive and more importantly does not need analytes optical labeling (Label-free). Among the different microcantilever transducing techniques, piezoresistive based microcantilever biosensors became more prominent because it works well in liquid environments and has an integrated readout system. However, the design of piezoresistive microcantilevers is not a straightforward problem due to coupling between the design parameters, constraints, process conditions, and performance. It was found that the parameters that can be optimized to enhance the sensitivity of Piezoresistive microcantilever-based sensors are: cantilever dimensions, cantilever material, cantilever shape, piezoresistor material, piezoresistor doping level, piezoresistor dimensions, piezoresistor position, Stress Concentration Region's (SCR) shape and position. After a systematic analyzation of the effect of each design and process parameters on the sensitivity, a step-wise optimization approach was developed in which almost all these parameters were variated one at each step while fixing the others to get the maximum possible sensitivity at the end. At each step, the goal was to optimize the parameter in a way that it maximizes and concentrates the stress in the piezoresistor region for the same applied force thus get the higher sensitivity. Using this approach, an optimized sensor that has 73.5x times higher electrical sensitivity (ΔR⁄R) than the starting sensor was obtained. In addition to that, this piezoresistive microcantilever biosensor it is more sensitive than the other similar sensors previously reported in the open literature. The mechanical sensitivity of the final senior is -1.5×10-8 Ω/Ω ⁄pN; which means that for each 1pN (10-10 g) biomolecules attach to this biosensor; the piezoresistor resistivity will decrease by 1.5×10-8 Ω. Throughout this work COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0, a commercial Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool, has been used to simulate the sensor performance.

Keywords: biosensor, microcantilever, piezoresistive, stress concentration region (SCR)

Procedia PDF Downloads 551