Search results for: computerized dynamic assessment

Authors: Vera Karla S. Caingles, Glen A. Lorenzo

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Soil, as the main material of landslides, plays a vital role in landslide assessment. An efficient and accurate method of doing an assessment is significantly important to prevent damage of properties and loss of lives. The study has two phases: to establish an empirical correlation of the residual soil thickness with the slope angle and to investigate the geotechnical characteristics of residual soil. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to establish the slope map and to program sampling points for field investigation. Physical and index property tests were undertaken on the 20 soil samples obtained from the area with Pliocene-Pleistocene geology and different slope angle in Kibawe, Bukidnon. The regression analysis result shows that the best fitting model that can describe the soil thickness-slope angle relationship is an exponential function. The physical property results revealed that soils contain a high percentage of clay and silts ranges from 41% - 99.52%. Based on the index properties test results, the soil exhibits a high degree of plasticity and expansion but not collapsible. It is deemed that this compendium will serve as primary data for slope stability analysis and deterministic landslide assessment.

Keywords: collapsibility, correlation, expansiveness, landslide, plasticity

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Authors: Caglayan Hizal, Hasan Emre Demirci, Engin Aktas, Alper Sezer

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Offshore wind turbines consist of a long slender tower with a heavy fixed mass on the top of the tower (nacelle), together with a heavy rotating mass (blades and hub). They are always subjected to environmental loads including wind and wave loads in their service life. This study presents a three-stage methodology for reliability-based condition assessment of offshore wind-turbines against the seismic, wave and wind induced effects considering the soil-structure interaction. In this context, failure criterions are considered as serviceability limits of a monopile supporting an Offshore Wind Turbine: (a) allowable horizontal displacement at pile head should not exceed 0.2 m, (b) rotations at pile head should not exceed 0.5°. A Bayesian system identification framework is adapted to the classical reliability analysis procedure. Using this framework, a reliability assessment can be directly implemented to the updated finite element model without performing time-consuming methods. For numerical verification, simulation data of the finite model of a real offshore wind-turbine structure is investigated using the three-stage methodology.

Keywords: Offshore wind turbines, SHM, reliability assessment, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Tami Peterson

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been hypothesized as an effective treatment for increasing verbal language skills in individuals on the autism spectrum. A child’s ability to effectively communicate with peers, parents, and caregivers impacts their level of independence and quality of personal relationships. This retrospective study will compare the speech development of participants aged 2-17 years that received 40 sessions of HBOT at 2.0 ATA to those who had not. Both groups will have a verbal assessment every six months. There were 31 subjects in the HBO group and 32 subjects in the non-HBO group. The statistical analysis will focus on whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy made a significant difference in Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) or Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS) results. The evidence demonstrates a strong correlation between HBOT and an increased change from baseline verbal scores compared to the control group, even in difficult to grasp areas such as spontaneous vocalization. We suggest this is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Neuroinflammation causes hypoperfusion of critical central nervous system areas responsible for the symptoms described within the autism spectrum, such as problems with thought processing, memory, and speech. Decreasing the inflammation allows the brain to function properly, which results in improved verbal scores for the participants that underwent HBOT.

Keywords: assessment of basic language and learning skills, autism spectrum disorder, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, verbal behavior milestones assessment and placement program

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Authors: Hossam Shalabi, George Hadjisophocleous

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The Canadian Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) use some portions of NUREG/CR-6850 in carrying out Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). An assessment for the applicability of NUREG/CR-6850 to CANDU reactors was performed and a CANDU Fire PRA was introduced. There are 19 operating CANDU reactors in Canada at five sites (Bruce A, Bruce B, Darlington, Pickering and Point Lepreau). A fire load density survey was done for all Fire Safe Shutdown Analysis (FSSA) fire zones in all CANDU sites in Canada. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 557 proposes that a fire load survey must be conducted by either the weighing method or the inventory method or a combination of both. The combination method results in the most accurate values for fire loads. An updated CANDU Fire PRA model is demonstrated in this paper that includes the fuel survey in all Canadian CANDU stations. A qualitative screening step for the CANDU fire PRA is illustrated in this paper to include any fire events that can damage any part of the emergency power supply in addition to FSSA cables.

Keywords: fire safety, CANDU, nuclear, fuel densities, FDS, qualitative analysis, fire probabilistic risk assessment

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Authors: Rossukhon Makaramani, Supanan Sittilerd, Wipada Prasarnsaph

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The study aimed to 1) examine management status of a Program in Education at the Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU); 2) determine main components, indicators and criteria for constructing quality assessment framework; 3) assess quality of a SSRU Program in Education; and 4) provide recommendations to promote academic excellence. The program to be assessed was Bachelor of Education Program in Education (5 years), Revised Version 2009. Population and samples were stakeholders involving implementation of this program during an academic year 2012. Results were: 1) Management status of the Program in Education showed that the Faculty of Education depicted good level (4.20) in the third cycle of external quality assessment by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). There were 1,192 students enrolling in the program, divided into 5 major fields of study. There were 50 faculty members, 37 holding master’s degrees and 13 holding doctorate degrees. Their academic position consisted of 35 lecturers, 10 assistant professors, and 5 associate professors. For program management, there was a committee of 5 members for the program and also a committee of 4 or 5 members for each major field of study. Among the faculty members, 41 persons taught in this program. The ratio between faculty and student was 1:26. The result of 2013 internal quality assessment indicated that system and mechanism of the program development and management was at fair level. However, the overall result yielded good level either by criteria of the Office of Higher Education Commission (4.29) or the NESQA (4.37); 2) Framework for assessing the quality of the program consisted of 4 dimensions and 15 indicators; 3) Assessment of the program yielded Good level of quality (4.04); 4) Recommendations to promote academic excellence included management and development of the program focusing on teacher reform toward highly recognized profession; cultivation of values, moral, ethics, and spirits of being a teacher; construction of specialized programs; development of faculty potentials; enhancement of the demonstration school’s readiness level; and provision of dormitories for learning.

Keywords: quality assessment, education program, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, academic excellence

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Authors: Amy Hodges, Deanna Rasmussen, Sherry Ward

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This paper examines the use of ePortfolios in a two-course sequence for ESL (English as a Second Language) students at an international branch campus in Doha, Qatar. ePortfolios support the transfer of language learning, but few have examined the sustainability of that transfer across an ESL program. Drawing upon surveys and interviews with students, we analyze three case studies that complicate previous research on metacognition, language learning, and ePortfolios. Our findings have implications for those involved in ESL programs and assessment of student writing.

Keywords: TESOL, electronic portfolios, assessment, technology

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Authors: Sergo Tsiramua, Sulkhan Sulkhanishvili, Elisabed Asabashvili, Lazare Kvirtia

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The paper presents logical-probabilistic methods, models and algorithms for reliability assessment of complex systems, based on which a web application for structural analysis and reliability assessment of systems was created. The reliability assessment process included the following stages, which were reflected in the application: 1) Construction of a graphical scheme of the structural reliability of the system; 2) Transformation of the graphic scheme into a logical representation and modeling of the shortest ways of successful functioning of the system; 3) Description of system operability condition with logical function in the form of disjunctive normal form (DNF); 4) Transformation of DNF into orthogonal disjunction normal form (ODNF) using the orthogonalization algorithm; 5) Replacing logical elements with probabilistic elements in ODNF, obtaining a reliability estimation polynomial and quantifying reliability; 6) Calculation of weights of elements. Using the logical-probabilistic methods, models and algorithms discussed in the paper, a special software was created, by means of which a quantitative assessment of the reliability of systems of a complex structure is produced. As a result, structural analysis of systems, research and designing of optimal structure systems are carried out.

Keywords: Complex systems, logical-probabilistic methods, orthogonalization algorithm, reliability, weight of element

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Authors: Marita Heyns

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Job insecurity is a distressing phenomenon which has far reaching consequences for both employees and their organizations. Previously, much attention has been given to the link between job insecurity and individual level performance outcomes, while less is known about how subjectively perceived job insecurity might transfer beyond the individual level to affect performance of the organization on an aggregated level. Research focusing on how employees’ fear of job loss might affect the organization’s ability to respond proactively to volatility and drastic change through applying its capabilities of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring, appears to be practically non-existent. Equally little is known about the potential underlying mechanisms through which job insecurity might affect the dynamic capabilities of an organization. This study examines how job insecurity might affect dynamic organizational capability through trust as an underling process. More specifically, it considered the simultaneous roles of trust at an impersonal (organizational) level as well as trust at an interpersonal level (in leaders and co-workers) as potential underlying mechanisms through which job insecurity might affect the organization’s dynamic capability to respond to opportunities and imminent, drastic change. A quantitative research approach and a stratified random sampling technique enabled the collection of data among 314 managers at four different plant sites of a large South African steel manufacturing organization undergoing dramatic changes. To assess the study hypotheses, the following statistical procedures were employed: Structural equation modelling was performed in Mplus to evaluate the measurement and structural models. The Chi-square values test for absolute fit as well as alternative fit indexes such as the Comparative Fit Index and the Tucker-Lewis Index, the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation and the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual were used as indicators of model fit. Composite reliabilities were calculated to evaluate the reliability of the factors. Finally, interaction effects were tested by using PROCESS and the construction of two-sided 95% confidence intervals. The findings indicate that job insecurity had a lower-than-expected detrimental effect on evaluations of the organization’s dynamic capability through the conducive buffering effects of trust in the organization and in its leaders respectively. In contrast, trust in colleagues did not seem to have any noticeable facilitative effect. The study proposes that both job insecurity and dynamic capability can be managed more effectively by also paying attention to factors that could promote trust in the organization and its leaders; some practical recommendations are given in this regard.

Keywords: dynamic organizational capability, impersonal trust, interpersonal trust, job insecurity

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Authors: Marinella Majorano, Rachele Ferrari, Tamara Bastianello

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The recent technological advance allows for applying innovative and multimedia screen-based assessment tools to test children's language and early literacy skills, monitor their growth over the preschool years, and test their readiness for primary school. Several are the advantages that a computer-based assessment tool offers with respect to paper-based tools. Firstly, computer-based tools which provide the use of games, videos, and audio may be more motivating and engaging for children, especially for those with language difficulties. Secondly, computer-based assessments are generally less time-consuming than traditional paper-based assessments: this makes them less demanding for children and provides clinicians and researchers, but also teachers, with the opportunity to test children multiple times over the same school year and, thus, to monitor their language growth more systematically. Finally, while paper-based tools require offline coding, computer-based tools sometimes allow obtaining automatically calculated scores, thus producing less subjective evaluations of the assessed skills and provide immediate feedback. Nonetheless, using computer-based assessment tools to test meta-phonological and language skills in children is not yet common practice in Italy. The present contribution aims to estimate the internal consistency of a computer-based assessment (i.e., the Simo-syl assessment). Sixty-three Italian pre-schoolers aged between 4;10 and 5;9 years were tested at the beginning of the last year of the preschool through paper-based standardised tools in their lexical (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), morpho-syntactical (Grammar Repetition Test for Children), meta-phonological (Meta-Phonological skills Evaluation test), and phono-articulatory skills (non-word repetition). The same children were tested through Simo-syl assessment on their phonological and meta-phonological skills (e.g., recognise syllables and vowels and read syllables and words). The internal consistency of the computer-based tool was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = .799). Children's scores obtained in the paper-based assessment and scores obtained in each task of the computer-based assessment were correlated. Significant and positive correlations emerged between all the tasks of the computer-based assessment and the scores obtained in the CMF (r = .287 - .311, p < .05) and in the correct sentences in the RCGB (r = .360 - .481, p < .01); non-word repetition standardised test significantly correlates with the reading tasks only (r = .329 - .350, p < .05). Further tasks should be included in the current version of Simo-syl to have a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach when assessing children. However, such a tool represents a good chance for the teachers to early identifying language-related problems even in the school environment.

Keywords: assessment, computer-based, early identification, language-related skills

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Authors: Iyasu Eibedingil

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The construction industry is one of the major factors responsible for causing a negative impact on the environment. It has the largest share in the use of natural resources including land use, material extraction, and greenhouse gases emissions. For this reason, it is imperative to reduce its environmental impact through the construction of sustainable buildings with less impact. These days, it is possible to measure the environmental impact by using different tools such as the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Given this premise, this study explored the environmental impact of two types of roofing systems through comparative life cycle assessment approach. The tiles were analyzed to select the most environmentally friendly roofing system for the villa at Khalifa City A, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These products are available in various forms; however, in this study concrete roof tiles and clay roof tiles were considered. The results showed that concrete roof tiles have lower environmental impact. In all scenarios considered, manufacturing the roof tiles locally, using recovered fuels for firing clay tiles, and using renewable energy (electricity from PV plant) showed that the concrete roof tiles were found to be excellent in terms of its embodied carbon, embodied the energy and various other environmental performance indicators.

Keywords: clay roof tile, concrete roof tile, life cycle assessment, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Samira Mahmoudkelayeh, Katayoun Taghizade, Mitra Pourvaziri, Elnaz Asadian

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Over the recent decades, depletion of resources and environmental concerns made researchers and practitioners present sustainable approaches. Since construction process consumes a great deal of both renewable and non-renewable resources, it is of great significance regarding environmental impacts. Choosing sustainable construction materials is a remarkable strategy presented in many researches and has a significant effect on building’s environmental footprint. This paper represents an assessment framework for selecting best sustainable materials for exterior enclosure in the city of Tehran based on sustainability principles (eco-friendly, cost effective and socio-cultural viable solutions). To perform a comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, a cradle to grave approach is used. A questionnaire survey of construction experts has been conducted to determine the relative importance of criteria. Analytic Network Process (ANP) is applied as a multi-criteria decision-making method to choose sustainable material which consider interdependencies of criteria and sub-criteria. Finally, it prioritizes and aggregates relevant criteria into ultimate assessed score.

Keywords: sustainable materials, building, analytic network process, life cycle assessment

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Authors: Sai Hung Cheung, Zhe Shao

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It is of our great interest to quantify the risk to structural dynamic systems due to earthquake-induced tsunamis in view of recent earthquake-induced tsunamis in Padang, 2004 and Tohoku, 2011 which brought huge losses of lives and properties. Despite continuous advancement in computational simulation of the tsunami and wave-structure interaction modeling, it still remains computationally challenging to evaluate the reliability of a structural dynamic system when uncertainties related to the system and its modeling are taken into account. The failure of the structure in a tsunami-wave-structural system is defined as any response quantities of the system exceeding specified thresholds during the time when the structure is subjected to dynamic wave impact due to earthquake-induced tsunamis. In this paper, an approach based on a novel integration of a recently proposed moving least squares response surface approach for stochastic sampling and the Subset Simulation algorithm is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is discussed by comparing its results with those obtained from the Subset Simulation algorithm without using the response surface approach.

Keywords: response surface, stochastic simulation, structural reliability tsunami, risk

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Authors: Mara Balestrieri, Clara Pusceddu

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Issues relating to the destructive phenomena that can damage people and goods have returned to the centre of debate in Italy with the increase in catastrophic episodes in recent years in a country which is highly vulnerable to hydrological risk. Environmental factors and geological and geomorphological territorial characteristics play an important role in determining the level of vulnerability and the natural tendency to risk. However, a territory has also been subjected to the requirements of and transformations of society, and this brings other relevant factors. The reasons for the increase in destructive phenomena are often to be found in the territorial development models adopted. Stewardship of the landscape and management of risk are related issues. This study aims to summarize the most relevant elements about this connection and at the same time to clarify the role of environmental risk assessment as a tool to aid in the sustainable management of landscape. How planners relate to this problem and which aspects should be monitored in order to prepare responsible and useful interventions?

Keywords: assessment, landscape, risk, planning

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Authors: P. S. Hsi, Y. F. Wang, Y. F. Ho, P. C. Hung

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The aim of the present study was to explore the dermal exposure assessment model of chemicals that have been developed abroad and to evaluate the feasibility of chemical dermal exposure assessment model for manufacturing industry in Taiwan. We conducted and analyzed six semi-quantitative risk management tools, including UK - Control of substances hazardous to health ( COSHH ) Europe – Risk assessment of occupational dermal exposure ( RISKOFDERM ), Netherlands - Dose related effect assessment model ( DREAM ), Netherlands – Stoffenmanager ( STOFFEN ), Nicaragua-Dermal exposure ranking method ( DERM ) and USA / Canada - Public Health Engineering Department ( PHED ). Five types of manufacturing industry were selected to evaluate. The Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the sensitivity of each factor, and the correlation between the assessment results of each semi-quantitative model and the exposure factors used in the model was analyzed to understand the important evaluation indicators of the dermal exposure assessment model. To assess the effectiveness of the semi-quantitative assessment models, this study also conduct quantitative dermal exposure results using prediction model and verify the correlation via Pearson's test. Results show that COSHH was unable to determine the strength of its decision factor because the results evaluated at all industries belong to the same risk level. In the DERM model, it can be found that the transmission process, the exposed area, and the clothing protection factor are all positively correlated. In the STOFFEN model, the fugitive, operation, near-field concentrations, the far-field concentration, and the operating time and frequency have a positive correlation. There is a positive correlation between skin exposure, work relative time, and working environment in the DREAM model. In the RISKOFDERM model, the actual exposure situation and exposure time have a positive correlation. We also found high correlation with the DERM and RISKOFDERM models, with coefficient coefficients of 0.92 and 0.93 (p<0.05), respectively. The STOFFEN and DREAM models have poor correlation, the coefficients are 0.24 and 0.29 (p>0.05), respectively. According to the results, both the DERM and RISKOFDERM models are suitable for performance in these selected manufacturing industries. However, considering the small sample size evaluated in this study, more categories of industries should be evaluated to reduce its uncertainty and enhance its applicability in the future.

Keywords: dermal exposure, risk management, quantitative estimation, feasibility evaluation

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Authors: Renáta Nagy, Alexandra Csongor, Vilmos Warta

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The presentation aims at eliciting insight into the results of ongoing research regarding evolving trends and attitudes towards online assessment of English and other languages. The focus pinpoints online as one of the most trending forms available during the global pandemic. The study was first initiated in 2019 in which its main target was to reveal the intriguing question of students’ and assessors’ attitudes towards online assessment. The research questions the attitudes towards the latest trends, possible online task types, and their advantages and disadvantages through an in-depth experimental process currently undergoing implementation. Material and methods include surveys, needs and wants analysis, and thorough investigations regarding candidates’ and assessors’ attitudes towards online tests in the field of languages. Over 400 respondents from more than 28 countries participated in the survey, which gives us an international and intercultural insight into how students with different cultural and educational background deal with the evolving online world. The results show the pandemic’s impact, which brought the slumbering online world of assessing roaring alive, fully operational, and now bears phenomenal relevance in today’s global education. Undeniably, the results can be used as a perspective in a vast array of contents. The survey hypothesized the generation of the 21st century expect everything readily available online, however, questions whether they are ready for this challenge are lurking in the background.

Keywords: assessment, english, intercultural, international, online, testing

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Authors: Ahmadreza Jabalameli, Mohammad Ebrahimpour Borujeni

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This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) on ambiguity tolerance, emotional intelligence and stress coping strategies in financial market traders. The methodology of this study was quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test with control group. The statistical population of this study includes all students at Jabalameli Information Technology Academy in 2022. Among them, 30 people were selected by voluntary sampling through interviews, and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups of 51 people. And the components were measured according to McLain Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire, Bar-On Emotional Intelligence and Lazarus Stress Coping Strategies. The data were obtained by SPSS software and were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results indicate that intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy influences the emotional intelligence as well as the ambiguity tolerance of traders.

Keywords: ISTDP, ambiguity tolerance, trading, emotional intelligence, stress

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Authors: Bruno Pinto Vieira, Marco Antonio Calijorne Soares, Armando Sérgio de Aguiar Filho

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Nowadays, a massive amount of information has been produced by different data sources, including mobile devices and transactional systems. In this scenario, concerns arise on how to maintain or establish data quality, which is now treated as a product to be defined, measured, analyzed, and improved to meet consumers' needs, which is the one who uses these data in decision making and companies strategies. Information that reaches low levels of quality can lead to issues that can consume time and money, such as missed business opportunities, inadequate decisions, and bad risk management actions. The step of selecting, identifying, evaluating, and selecting data sources with significant quality according to the need has become a costly task for users since the sources do not provide information about their quality. Traditional data quality control methods are based on user experience or business rules limiting performance and slowing down the process with less than desirable accuracy. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, it is possible to take advantage of computational resources to overcome challenges and add value to companies and users. In this study, machine learning is applied to data quality analysis on different datasets, seeking to compare the performance of the techniques according to the dimensions of quality assessment. As a result, we could create a ranking of approaches used, besides a system that is able to carry out automatically, data quality assessment.

Keywords: machine learning, data quality, quality dimension, quality assessment

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Authors: S. J. Yune, S. Y. Lee, S. J. Im, B. S. Kam, S. Y. Baek

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This study aimed to determine the reliability of clinical performance assessments, having been emphasized by ability-based education, and professors overall assessment methods. We addressed the following problems: First, we try to find out whether there is a difference in what we consider to be the main variables affecting the clinical performance test according to the evaluator’s working period and the number of evaluation experience. Second, we examined the relationship among the global rating score (G), analytic global rating score (Gc), and the sum of the analytical checklists (C). What are the main factors affecting clinical performance assessments in relation to the numbers of times the evaluator had administered evaluations and the length of their working period service? What is the relationship between overall assessment score and analytic checklist score? How does analytic global rating with 6 components in OSCE and 4 components in sub-domains (Gc) CPX: aseptic practice, precision, systemic approach, proficiency, successfulness, and attitude overall assessment score and task-specific analytic checklist score sum (C) affect the professor’s overall global rating assessment score (G)? We studied 75 professors who attended a 2016 Bugyeoung Consortium clinical skills performances test evaluating third and fourth year medical students at the Pusan National University Medical school in South Korea (39 prof. in OSCE, 36 prof. in CPX; all consented to participate in our study). Each evaluator used 3 forms; a task-specific analytic checklist, subsequent analytic global rating scale with sub-6 domains, and overall global scale. After the evaluation, the professors responded to the questionnaire on the important factors of clinical performance assessment. The data were analyzed by frequency analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS 21.0. Their understanding of overall assessment was analyzed by dividing the subjects into groups based on experiences. As a result, they considered ‘precision’ most important in overall OSCE assessment, and ‘precise accuracy physical examination’, ‘systemic approaches to taking patient history’, and ‘diagnostic skill capability’ in overall CPX assessment. For OSCE, there was no clear difference of opinion about the main factors, but there was for CPX. Analytic global rating scale score, overall rating scale score, and analytic checklist score had meaningful mutual correlations. According to the regression analysis results, task-specific checklist score sum had the greatest effect on overall global rating. professors regarded task-specific analytic checklist total score sum as best reflecting overall OSCE test score, followed by aseptic practice, precision, systemic approach, proficiency, successfulness, and attitude on a subsequent analytic global rating scale. For CPX, subsequent analytic global rating scale score, overall global rating scale score, and task-specific checklist score had meaningful mutual correlations. These findings support explanations for validity of professors’ global rating in clinical performance assessment.

Keywords: global rating, clinical performance assessment, medical education, analytic checklist

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Authors: Bernard Kumi-Boateng, Kofi Bonsu

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The clearing of vegetation in the Tarkwa Mining Area (TMA) for the purposes of mining, lumbering and development of settlement for the increasing population has caused a large scale denudation of the forest cover and erosion of the top soil thereby degrading the agriculture land. It is, therefore, essential to know the current status of land degradation in TMA so as to facilitate land conservation policy-making. The types of degradation, the extents of the degradations and their various degrees were combined to develop a composite land degradation index to assess the current status of land degradation in TMA using GIS based techniques. The assessment revealed that the most significant types of degradation in TMA were open pit and quarry mining; urbanisation and other construction projects; and surface scraping during land clearing. It was found that 21.62 % of the total area of TMA (353.07 km2) had high degradation index rating. It is recommended that decision makers use this assessment as a reference point for future initiatives that will be taken in order to develop land conservation policy.

Keywords: degradation, GIS, land, mining

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Authors: Kwok W. Mui, Ling T. Wong, Tsz W. Tsang

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Many Hong Kong people nowadays spend most of their lifetime working indoor. Since poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) potentially leads to discomfort, ill health, low productivity and even absenteeism in workplaces, a call for establishing statutory IAQ control to safeguard the well-being of residents is urgently required. Although policies, strategies, and guidelines for workplace IAQ diagnosis have been developed elsewhere and followed with remedial works, some of those workplaces or buildings have relatively late stage of the IAQ problems when the investigation or remedial work started. Screening for IAQ problems should be initiated as it will provide information as a minimum provision of IAQ baseline requisite to the resolution of the problems. It is not practical to sample all air pollutants that exit. Nevertheless, as a statutory control, reliable, rapid screening is essential in accordance with a compromise strategy, which balances costs against detection of key pollutants. This study investigates the feasibility of using an IAQ index as a parameter of IAQ control in Hong Kong. The index is a screening parameter to identify the unsatisfactory workplace IAQ and will highlight where a fully effective IAQ monitoring and assessment is needed for an intensive diagnosis. There already exist a number of representative common indoor pollutants based on some extensive IAQ assessments. The selection of pollutants is surrogate to IAQ control consists of dilution, mitigation, and emission control. The IAQ Index and assessment will look at high fractional quantities of these common measurement parameters. With the support of the existing comprehensive regional IAQ database and the IAQ Index by the research team as the pre-assessment probability, and the unsatisfactory IAQ prevalence as the post-assessment probability from this study, thresholds of maintaining the current measures and performing a further IAQ test or IAQ remedial measures will be proposed. With justified resources, the proposed IAQ Index and assessment protocol might be a useful tool for setting up a practical public IAQ surveillance programme and policy in Hong Kong.

Keywords: assessment, index, indoor air quality, surveillance programme

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Authors: Jun Tian, Yu Yang, Liping Zhang, Qianhua Kan

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Experimental results show that SA 508-3 steel exhibits temperature dependent cyclic softening characteristic and obvious ratcheting behaviors, and dynamic strain age was observed at temperature range of 200 ºC to 350 ºC. Based on these observations, a temperature dependent cyclic plastic constitutive model was proposed by introducing the nonlinear cyclic softening and kinematic hardening rules, and the dynamic strain age was also considered into the constitutive model. Comparisons between experiments and simulations were carried out to validate the proposed model at elevated temperature.

Keywords: constitutive model, elevated temperature, ratcheting, SA 508-3

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Authors: Mahan Qwamizadeh, Kun Zhou, Zuoqi Zhang, Yong Wei Zhang

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Typical load-bearing biological materials like bone, mineralized tendon and shell, are biocomposites made from both organic (collagen) and inorganic (biomineral) materials. This amazing class of materials with intrinsic internally designed hierarchical structures show superior mechanical properties with regard to their weak components from which they are formed. Extensive investigations concentrating on static loading conditions have been done to study the biological materials failure. However, most of the damage and failure mechanisms in load-bearing biological materials will occur whenever their structures are exposed to dynamic loading conditions. The main question needed to be answered here is: What is the relation between the layout and architecture of the load-bearing biological materials and their dynamic behavior? In this work, a staggered model has been developed based on the structure of natural materials at nanoscale and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been used to study the dynamic behavior of the structure of load-bearing biological materials to answer why the staggered arrangement has been selected by nature to make the nanocomposite structure of most of the biological materials. The results showed that the staggered structures will efficiently attenuate the stress wave rather than the layered structure. Furthermore, such staggered architecture is effectively in charge of utilizing the capacity of the biostructure to resist both normal and shear loads. In this work, the geometrical parameters of the model like the thickness and aspect ratio of the mineral inclusions selected from the typical range of the experimentally observed feature sizes and layout dimensions of the biological materials such as bone and mineralized tendon. Furthermore, the numerical results validated with existing theoretical solutions. Findings of the present work emphasize on the significant effects of dynamic behavior on the natural evolution of load-bearing biological materials and can help scientists to design bioinspired materials in the laboratories.

Keywords: load-bearing biological materials, nanostructure, staggered structure, stress wave decay

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Authors: Mohhamed Yassine Baroudi, Abdelkrim Benammar, Fethi Tarik Bendimerad

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This paper proposes software architecture for dynamical service adaptation. The services are constituted by reusable software components. The adaptation’s goal is to optimize the service function of their execution context. For a first step, the context will take into account just the user needs but other elements will be added. A particular feature in our proposition is the profiles that are used not only to describe the context’s elements but also the components itself. An adapter analyzes the compatibility between all these profiles and detects the points where the profiles are not compatibles. The same Adapter search and apply the possible adaptation solutions: component customization, insertion, extraction or replacement.

Keywords: adaptative service, software component, service, dynamic adaptation

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Authors: Enrique Barra, Abel Carril, Aldo Gordillo, Joaquin Salvachua, Juan Quemada

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Computers and multimedia equipment have improved a lot in the last years. They have reduced costs and size while at the same time has increased their capabilities. These improvements allowed us to design and implement a portable recording system that also integrates the teacher´s tablet PC to capture what he/she writes on the slides and all that happens in it. This paper explains this system in detail and the validation of the recordings that we did after using it to record all the lectures of a course in our university called “Communications Software”. The results show that pupils used the recordings for different purposes and consider them useful for a variety of things, especially after missing a lecture.

Keywords: recording system, capture dynamic presentations, lecture recording

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Authors: Abbas Khosravi

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This paper discusses the use of cooperation without communication in a multi-agent, unpredictable, dynamic real-time environment. The architecture of the Persian Gulf agent consists of three layers: fixed rule, low level, and high level layers, allowing for cooperation without direct communication. A scenario is presented to each agent in the form of a file, specifying each player's role and actions in the game. The scenario helps in cases of miscommunication, improving team performance. Cooperation without communication enhances reliability and coordination among agents, leading to better results in challenging situations.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, communication, Robocop, software engineering

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Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

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From a psychological perspective, psychopathology is the area of clinical psychology that has at its core psychological assessment and psychotherapy. In day-to-day clinical practice, psychodiagnosis and psychotherapy are used independently, according to their intended purpose and their specific methods of application. The paper explores how the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Mini Mental State Examination-2 (MMSE-2) psychological tools contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT). This combined approach, psychotherapy in conjunction with assessment of personality and cognitive functions, is illustrated by two cases, a severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms and a mixed anxiety-depressive disorder. The order in which CBT, MMPI-2, and MMSE-2 were used in the diagnostic and therapeutic process was determined by the particularities of each case. In the first case, the sequence started with psychotherapy, followed by the administration of blue form MMSE-2, MMPI-2, and red form MMSE-2. In the second case, the cognitive screening with blue form MMSE-2 led to a personality assessment using MMPI-2, followed by red form MMSE-2; reapplication of the MMPI-2 due to the invalidation of the first profile, and finally, psychotherapy. The MMPI-2 protocols gathered useful information that directed the steps of therapeutic intervention: a detailed symptom picture of potentially self-destructive thoughts and behaviors otherwise undetected during the interview. The memory loss and poor concentration were confirmed by MMSE-2 cognitive screening. This combined approach, psychotherapy with psychological assessment, aligns with the trend of adaptation of the psychological services to the everyday life of contemporary man and paves the way for deepening and developing the field.

Keywords: assessment, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, MMPI-2, MMSE-2, psychopathology

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Authors: Krzysztof Plesiewicz, Izabela Plesiewicz, Krzysztof Chiżyński, Marzenna Zielińska

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Background: Obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. There are several anthropometric parameters proposed to estimate the level of obesity, but until now there is no agreement which one is the best predictor of cardiometabolic risk. Scientists defined metabolically obese normal weight, who suffer from metabolic abnormalities, the same as obese individuals, and defined this syndrome as normal weight obesity (NWO). Aim of the study: The aim of our study was to determine the occurrence of overweight and obesity in a cohort of young, adult women, using standard and complementary methods of obesity assessment and to indicate those, who are at risk of obesity. The second aim of our study was to test additional methods of obesity assessment and proof that body mass index using alone is not sufficient parameter of obesity assessment. Materials and methods: 384 young women, aged 18-32, were enrolled into the study. Standard anthropometric parameters (waist to hips ratio (WTH), waist to height ratio (WTHR)) and two other methods of body fat percentage measurement (BFPM) were used in the study: electrical bioimpendance analysis (BIA) and skinfold measurement test by digital fat body mass clipper (SFM). Results: In the study group 5% and 7% of participants had waist to hips ratio and accordingly waist to height ratio values connected with visceral obesity. According to BMI 14% participants were overweight and obese. Using additional methods of body fat assessment, there were 54% and 43% of obese for BIA and SMF method. In the group of participants with normal BMI and underweight (not overweight, n =340) there were individuals with the level of BFPM above the upper limit, for the BIA 49% (n =164) and for the SFM 36 % (n=125). Statistical analysis revealed strong correlation between BIA and SFM methods. Conclusion: BMI using alone is not a sufficient parameter of obesity assessment. High percentage of young women with normal BMI values seem to be normal weight obese.

Keywords: electrical bioimpedance, normal weight obesity, skin-fold measurement test, women

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Authors: Mojtaba Javdan, Kamran Jafarpour Ghalehteimouri, Moslem Ghasemi, Arezu Riazi

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Tourism has a huge multiplier effect on other socioeconomic sectors, resulting in better infrastructure and public services. However, its environmental impact is still a source of concern. As a result, a greater emphasis has been placed on improving the sustainability of tourist destinations. Despite the global significance of sustainability assessment, only a few widely accepted methods for measuring sustainability exist. As a result, the life cycle concept is used to evaluate environmental, economic, and social consequences. The Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a crucial life cycle tool. Due to the tourism-specific service specifications, tourism-related activities are well-suited for the elaboration of data related to social sustainability. Therefore, the possibility of how the S-LCA is involved in ensuring cultural tourism destinations' long-term viability can be the main question. To answer this question, this article examines the theoretical evolution of both the S-LCA and cultural tourism. Potential application gaps are investigated, and an S-LCA framework for sustainable cultural tourism destinations is proposed and discussed. Thus, by bringing all stakeholders' interests together, the proposed S-LCA conceptual framework can play an effective role in achieving the principles and objectives of sustainable tourism destination management.

Keywords: social life cycle assessment, sustainable cultural tourism destinations, sustainable tourism destination management, S-LCA framework

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Authors: Danah Al-Selahi, Sulaiman Al-Ghunaim, Bashayer Sadiq, Fatma Al-Otaibi, Ali Ameen

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In light of recent changes affecting the Oil & Gas Industry, optimization measures have become imperative for all companies globally, including Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). To keep abreast of the dynamic market, a detailed Integrated Asset Plan (IAP) was developed to drive optimization across the organization, which was facilitated through the in-house developed software “Well Inventory Data Entry” (WIDE). This comprehensive and integrated approach enabled centralization of all planned asset components for better well planning, enhancement of performance, and to facilitate continuous improvement through performance tracking and midterm forecasting. Traditionally, this was hard to achieve as, in the past, various legacy methods were used. This paper briefly describes the methods successfully adopted to meet the company’s objective. IAPs were initially designed using computerized spreadsheets. However, as data captured became more complex and the number of stakeholders requiring and updating this information grew, the need to automate the conventional spreadsheets became apparent. WIDE, existing in other aspects of the company (namely, the Workover Optimization project), was utilized to meet the dynamic requirements of the IAP cycle. With the growth of extensive features to enhance the planning process, the tool evolved into a centralized data-hub for all asset-groups and technical support functions to analyze and infer from, leading WIDE to become the reference two-year operational plan for the entire company. To achieve WIDE’s goal of operational efficiency, asset-groups continuously add their parameters in a series of predefined workflows that enable the creation of a structured process which allows risk factors to be flagged and helps mitigation of the same. This tool dictates assigned responsibilities for all stakeholders in a method that enables continuous updates for daily performance measures and operational use. The reliable availability of WIDE, combined with its user-friendliness and easy accessibility, created a platform of cross-functionality amongst all asset-groups and technical support groups to update contents of their respective planning parameters. The home-grown entity was implemented across the entire company and tailored to feed in internal processes of several stakeholders across the company. Furthermore, the implementation of change management and root cause analysis techniques captured the dysfunctionality of previous plans, which in turn resulted in the improvement of already existing mechanisms of planning within the IAP. The detailed elucidation of the 2 year plan flagged any upcoming risks and shortfalls foreseen in the plan. All results were translated into a series of developments that propelled the tool’s capabilities beyond planning and into operations (such as Asset Production Forecasts, setting KPIs, and estimating operational needs). This process exemplifies the ability and reach of applying advanced development techniques to seamlessly integrated the planning parameters of various assets and technical support groups. These techniques enables the enhancement of integrating planning data workflows that ultimately lay the founding plans towards an epoch of accuracy and reliability. As such, benchmarks of establishing a set of standard goals are created to ensure the constant improvement of the efficiency of the entire planning and operational structure.

Keywords: automation, integration, value, communication

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Authors: Ghada Elshafei, Abdelazim Negm

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Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service, by compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases; evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases; and interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision. In this paper, the life cycle assessment of aluminum and beech wood as two commonly used materials in Egypt for window frames are heading, highlighting their benefits and weaknesses. Window frames of the two materials have been assessed on the basis of their production, energy consumption and environmental impacts. It has been found that the climate change of the windows made of aluminum and beech wood window, for a reference window (1.2m × 1.2m), are 81.7 mPt and - 52.5 mPt impacts respectively. Among the most important results are: fossil fuel consumption, potential contributions to the green building effect and quantities of solid waste tend to be minor for wood products compared to aluminum products; incineration of wood products can cause higher impacts of acidification and eutrophication than aluminum, whereas thermal energy can be recovered.

Keywords: aluminum window, beech wood window, green building, life cycle assessment, life cycle analysis, SimaPro software, window frame

Procedia PDF Downloads 450