Search results for: Learning materials

Authors: Lamis Naddaf, Yuval Tabach

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In this research, we identified the missense genetic variants that have the potential to enhance resistance against cancer. Such field has not been widely explored, as researchers tend to investigate mutations that cause diseases, in response to the suffering of patients, rather than those mutations that protect from them. In conjunction with the genomic revolution, and the advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology, identifying the protective variants will increase the power of genotype-phenotype predictions and can have significant implications on improved risk estimation, diagnostics, prognosis and even for personalized therapy and drug discovery. To approach our goal, we systematically investigated the sites of the coding genomes and picked up the alleles that showed a correlation with the species’ cancer resistance. We predicted 250 protecting variants (PVs) with a 0.01 false discovery rate and more than 20 thousand PVs with a 0.25 false discovery rate. Cancer resistance in Mammals and reptiles was significantly predicted by the number of PVs a species has. Moreover, Genes enriched with the protecting variants are enriched in pathways relevant to tumor suppression like pathways of Hedgehog signaling and silencing, which its improper activation is associated with the most common form of cancer malignancy. We also showed that the PVs are more abundant in healthy people compared to cancer patients within different human races.

Keywords: comparative genomics, machine learning, cancer resistance, cancer-protecting alleles

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Authors: I. Algul, G. Akgun, H. Kurtaran

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Dynamic analysis of composite doubly curved panels with variable thickness subjected to different pulse types using Generalized Differential Quadrature method (GDQ) is presented in this study. Panels with variable thickness are used in the construction of aerospace and marine industry. Giving variable thickness to panels can allow the designer to get optimum structural efficiency. For this reason, estimating the response of variable thickness panels is very important to design more reliable structures under dynamic loads. Dynamic equations for composite panels with variable thickness are obtained using virtual work principle. Partial derivatives in the equation of motion are expressed with GDQ and Newmark average acceleration scheme is used for temporal discretization. Several examples are used to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results are compared with finite element method. Effects of taper ratios, boundary conditions and loading type on the response of composite panel are investigated.

Keywords: differential quadrature method, doubly curved panels, laminated composite materials, small displacement

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Authors: Luís Felipe da Cunha Mendonça

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Normally, rural roads do not have any type of coating, and when they have any coating, they have a high maintenance cost due to the characteristics of natural materials. The Steel Aggregate has specific technical characteristics, which considerably reduce the maintenance costs of rural roads with the execution of the Primary Coating. For use as a primary coating, it must be mixed with clay due to the physical-chemical properties of the material. The application is mainly in the Primary Coating of rural roads due to the cementitious property in the presence of water, offering greater resistance to wear caused by traffic and consequently a longer useful life of the coating. The Steel Aggregate executed on rural roads has reduced particulate emissions and offers normal traffic in any weather condition, as well as creating sustainability. Contribute to the quality of life of communities through improvements in the conditions of rural and urban unpaved roads. Leading to substantial savings in maintenance. Because the durability, if applied correctly, is about 3 years, but if annual monitoring is carried out, it can be extended for more than 5 years.

Keywords: steel slag, co-product, primary coating, steel aggregate

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Authors: S. Athiralakshmi, B.E. Bhojaraja, U. Pruthviraj

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In agriculture, remote sensing is applied for monitoring of plant development, evaluating of physiological processes and growth conditions. Especially valuable are the spatio-temporal aspects of the remotely sensed data in detecting crop state differences and stress situations. In this study, hyperion imagery is used for classifying arecanut crops based on their age so that these maps can be used in yield estimation of crops, irrigation purposes, applying fertilizers etc. Traditional hard classifiers assigns the mixed pixels to the dominant classes. The proposed method uses a sub pixel level classifier called linear spectral unmixing available in ENVI software. It provides the relative abundance of surface materials and the context within a pixel that may be a potential solution to effectively identifying the land-cover distribution. Validation is done referring to field spectra collected using spectroradiometer and the ground control points obtained from GPS.

Keywords: FLAASH, Hyperspectral remote sensing, Linear Spectral Unmixing, Spectral Angle Mapper Classifier.

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Authors: Abbas Vahedian, Rijun Shrestha, Keith Crews

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In recent years, fibre reinforced polymers as applications of strengthening materials have received significant attention by civil engineers and environmentalists because of their excellent characteristics. Currently, these composites have become a mainstream technology for strengthening of infrastructures such as steel, concrete and more recently, timber and masonry structures. However, debonding is identified as the main problem which limit the full utilisation of the FRP material. In this paper, a preliminary analysis of factors affecting bond strength of FRP-to-concrete and timber bonded interface has been conducted. A novel theoretical method through regression analysis has been established to evaluate these factors. Results of proposed model are then assessed with results of pull-out tests and satisfactory comparisons are achieved between measured failure loads (R² = 0.83, P < 0.0001) and the predicted loads (R² = 0.78, P < 0.0001).

Keywords: debonding, fibre reinforced polymers (FRP), pull-out test, stepwise regression analysis

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Authors: A. Fettahoglu

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Theory of viscoelasticity is used by many researchers to represent the behavior of many materials such as pavements on roads or bridges. Several researches used analytical methods and rheology to predict the material behaviors of simple models. Today, more complex engineering structures are analyzed using Finite Element Method, in which material behavior is embedded by means of three dimensional viscoelastic material laws. As a result, structures of unordinary geometry and domain can be analyzed by means of Finite Element Method and three dimensional viscoelastic equations. In the scope of this study, rheological models embedded in ANSYS, namely, generalized Maxwell model and Prony series, which are two methods used by ANSYS to represent viscoelastic material behavior, are presented explicitly. Afterwards, a guide is illustrated to ease using of viscoelasticity tool in ANSYS.

Keywords: ANSYS, generalized Maxwell model, finite element method, Prony series, viscoelasticity, viscoelastic material curve fitting

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Authors: Chadel Meriem, Bensmaine Souhila, Chadel Asma, Bouchikhi Chaima

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The Methylammonium Lead Iodide CH3NH3PbI3 is used in solar cell as an absorber layer since 2009. The efficiencies of these technologies have increased from 3.8% in 2009 to 29.15% in 2019. So, these technologies Methylammonium Lead Iodide is promising for the development of high-performance photovoltaic applications. Due to the high cost of the experimental of the solar cells, researchers have turned to other methods like numerical simulation. In this work, we evaluate and simulate the performance of a CH₃NH₃PbI₃ lead-based perovskite solar cell when the amount of materials of absorber layer is reduced. We show that the reducing of thickness the absorber layer influent on performance of the solar cell. For this study, the one-dimensional simulation program, SCAPS-1D, is used to investigate and analyze the performance of the perovskite solar cell. After optimization, maximum conversion efficiency was achieved with 300 nm in absorber layer.

Keywords: methylammonium lead Iodide, perovskite solar cell, caracteristic J-V, effeciency

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Authors: M. Abbasi Layegh, S. Haghipour, K. Athari, R. Khosravi, M. Tafkikialamdari

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An approach to find the optimum mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) for the Radif of Mirzâ Ábdollâh, which is the principal emblem and the heart of Persian music, performed by most famous Iranian masters on two Iranian stringed instruments ‘Tar’ and ‘Setar’ is proposed. While investigating the variance of MFCC for each record in themusic database of 1500 gushe of the repertoire belonging to 12 modal systems (dastgâh and âvâz), we have applied the Fuzzy C-Mean clustering algorithm on each of the 12 coefficient and different combinations of those coefficients. We have applied the same experiment while increasing the number of coefficients but the clustering accuracy remained the same. Therefore, we can conclude that the first 7 MFCCs (V-7MFCC) are enough for classification of The Radif of Mirzâ Ábdollâh. Classical machine learning algorithms such as MLP neural networks, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) have been employed. Finally, it can be realized that SVM shows a better performance in this study.

Keywords: radif of Mirzâ Ábdollâh, Gushe, mel frequency cepstral coefficients, fuzzy c-mean clustering algorithm, k-nearest neighbors (KNN), gaussian mixture model (GMM), hidden markov model (HMM), support vector machine (SVM)

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Authors: Kinga Anna Gajda

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The aim of the paper is presented the results of the research project titled: Regional or trans-regional cultural education using the example of museums. In the frame of the project there were prepared: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the level of schools’ use of museum programs in the period 2010-2015; Qualitative and quantitative analysis of interprovincial co-operation between schools and cultural institutions; intevied and questionnaries. That was a research materials. Informal education may include classes that use visual culture - museum lessons. The paper will examine what range of programs is offered schools by the museums. On the basis of the conducted analysis, the paper will verify what programs addressing the schools are directly coincided with the material taught in schools or as a supplement to existing curriculum. The paper will answer the question is the museum-based education the part of school education, the teaching parallel or a separate category of teaching.

Keywords: museum-based education, school, parallel teaching, curriculum

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Authors: Ivana Loncarevic, Biljana Pajin, Ivana Vasiljevic, Milana Lazovic, Danica Mrkajic, Aleksandar Fises, Strahinja Kovacevic

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Biscuits belong to a group of flour-confectionery products that are considerably consumed worldwide. The basic raw material for their production is wheat flour or integral flour as a nutritionally highly valuable component. However, this raw material is also a potential source of contamination since it may contain the residues of biochemical compounds originating from plant and soil protection agents. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the health safety of both raw materials and final products. The aim of this research was to examine the content of undesirable residues of pesticides (mostly organochlorine pesticides, organophosphorus pesticides, carbamate pesticides, triazine pesticides, and pyrethroid pesticides) in 30 different biscuit samples of domestic origin present on the Vojvodina market using Gas Chromatograph Thermo ISQ/Trace 1300. The results showed that all tested samples had the limit of detection of pesticide content below 0.01 mg/kg, indicating that this type of confectionary products is not contaminated with pesticides.

Keywords: biscuits, pesticides, contamination, quality

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Authors: Raymon P. Española

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Hearing impaired students are admitted to regular high schools in the context of inclusive education. In this setting, several academic difficulties and social struggles are disregarded by many educators. The study aimed to describe the aspirations and lived experiences in mainstream classrooms of hearing impaired students. In the research process, the participants were interviewed using sign language. Thematic analysis of interview responses was done, supplemented by interviews with teachers and classroom observations. The study revealed four patterns of experiences: academic difficulties, coping mechanisms, identification with hearing peers, and impression management. This means that these learners were struggling in inclusive classrooms, where identification with and modeling the positive qualities of hearing peers were done to cope with academic difficulties and alter negative impressions about them. By implication, these learners tended to socially immerse themselves rather than resort to isolation. Along with this tendency was the aspiration for achievement as they were eager to finish post-secondary technical-vocational education. This means aspiring for continuing social immersion into the mainstream. All these findings provide insights to K-12 educators to increase the use of collaborative techniques and experiential learning strategies, as well as to adequately address the special educational needs of these students.

Keywords: descriptive, experiences and aspirations of hearing impaired learners, inclusive classrooms, Surigao City Philippines

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Authors: Rapelang E. Simon, Thebeetsile A. Olebetse, Joseph R. Maritinkole, Ruth O. Moleleke

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The P and S wave seismic velocity ratios (Vp/Vs) of some aftershocks are investigated using the method ofWadati diagrams. These aftershocks occurred after the 3rdApril 2017 Botswana’s Mw 6.5 earthquake and were recorded by the Network of Autonomously Recording Seismographs (NARS)-Botswana temporary network deployed from 2013 to 2018. In this paper, P and S wave data with good signal-to-noise ratiofrom twenty events of local magnitude greater or equal to 4.0are analysed with the Seisan software and used to infer properties of the upper crust in Botswana. The Vp/Vsratiosare determined from the travel-times of body waves and then converted to Poisson’s ratio, which is useful in determining the physical state of the subsurface materials. The Vp/Vs ratios of the upper crust in Botswana show regional variations from 1.70 to 1.77, with an average of 1.73. The Poisson’s ratios range from 0.24to 0.27 with an average of 0.25 and correlate well with the geological structures in Botswana.

Keywords: Botswana, earthquake, poisson's ratio, seismic velocity, Vp/Vs ratio

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Authors: Justin Tang

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Balance tests are frequently used to diagnose concussions on the sidelines of sporting events. Manual scoring, however, is labor intensive and subjective, and many concussions go undetected. This study institutes a novel approach to conducting the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) more quantitatively using Microsoft’s gaming system Kinect, which uses a contactless sensor and several cameras to receive data and estimate body limb positions. Using a machine learning approach, Visual Gesture Builder, and a deterministic approach, MATLAB, we tested whether the Kinect can differentiate between “correct” and erroneous stances of the BESS. We created the two separate solutions by recording test videos to teach the Kinect correct stances and by developing a code using Java. Twenty-two subjects were asked to perform a series of BESS tests while the Kinect was collecting data. The Kinect recorded the subjects and mapped key joints onto their bodies to obtain angles and measurements that are interpreted by the software. Through VGB and MATLAB, the videos are analyzed to enumerate the number of errors committed during testing. The resulting statistics demonstrate a high correlation between manual scoring and the Kinect approaches, indicating the viability of the use of remote tracking devices in conducting concussion tests.

Keywords: automated, concussion detection, contactless sensors, microsoft kinect

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Authors: R. Abdeldjebar, B. Labbaci, L. Lahmar, L. Missoum, B. Moudden

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Today to build durably means to build in such a way to create, to preserve in the world an acceptable environment where ecology, social and economic implications are in the center of future generations interest. To achieve this goal, we tried to employ local, durable, powerful ground materials which lead to limit pollution, to have long lifetime, and possibility of recycling or recovery. Using them in the most rational way makes construction technically perfect and put an end to cement invasion, since ground bricks are simple to implement and create a useful decoration, original and pleasant which enables to preserve the historical architectural heritage. This work concerns the study of environmental effects on stabilized bricks of compressed ground, traditionally manufactured containing traditional quicklime after extinction in water as a basic component which offers to brick mechanical resistance in conformity with the standards. Experimental results of compression and bending are exposed and are in conformity with the used standards.

Keywords: characterization, BTS, quicklime, dune sand, environment, durable

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Authors: Soodabeh Dehghan, Siavash Hamidzadeh, Naqshbandi Seyyed Salahedin, Ali Mohammad Safania

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The present research with the aim of the relationship between organizational silence and organizational voice with quality of work-life among employees of the sport and youth departments of Tehran Province was done. The statistical population of this research includes all employees of the sport and youth departments of Tehran province, and considering the not very large number of society, the sample and society were considered to be the same, and the sample was considered as the whole number. To measure each of these variables, a questionnaire was used. The research questionnaire was presented in four sections. The results showed that, since the extension of the process of organizational silence is usually done by managers, their attitude and attitudes toward this phenomenon are prioritized and also because silence reduces learning due to lack of knowledge sharing, makes it less effective and makes changes more difficult, it is necessary to take steps to break the silence and to further urge the staff (employees) to express their beliefs (organizational voices) and to share them in the organization's fate individuals, whose beliefs are respected and so called taken into account in the organization, would be dependent on the organization and feel obliged to remain with the organization during the hardships. This affects employees' quality of work life and their satisfaction too much.

Keywords: organizational silence, organizational voice, quality of work life, the sports and youth departments of Tehran province

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Authors: Christtestimony Oluwafemi Jesumoroti, AbdulLateef Ashola Olanrewaju, Khor Soo Cheen

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The worth of buildings is known by the quality of the maintenance imbibe in them. Maintenance management being carried out in the hospitals has a direct impact on the performance of the hospital buildings, environment, and sustainable infrastructure, and as such, there is a need to give it adequate attention. The media and reports on hospital buildings maintenance management in Malaysia were not favorable. Hospital buildings in Malaysia need to have proper structure for maintenance management and sustainability as this will enhance the good infrastructure for users and the entire nation. The paper reports the preliminary results of the determinants of maintenance in hospital buildings. To achieve the aim of this research, a survey questionnaire was administered to the users of the hospital buildings. The findings of the study revealed that there are lack of maintenance standard, use of poor quality components and materials, Improper response time, Poor complaint reporting system. Hence, the influent of rework, thorough responsibilities of quality performance of hospital buildings, and others are the results of the investigations.

Keywords: sustainable infrastructure, optimum performance, implementation, key performance indicators, maintenance policies

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Authors: Busari Lasisi

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Literary works are often devalued to mere fictions and are left with no essence and contributions to history. The sub-structured rational delineating literary works from history is anchored on the aesthetic and flowery expressions that are therein embedded for artistic enrichment. This does not distance a literary work (from whichever genres it is drawn) reflecting the socio-economic, cultural and political cum religious perspectives of a given people and society. This is the very reason justifying the veracity that a writer does not anchor his writing outside of his society. He writes mirroring (his or a given society’s) events, places and duration of consciousness thereby making history evident. In the light of this reality, literary works are not just seen as fictions, imaginative and unrealistic pieces; for they are never unconnected to history. Thus, making authors of literary works historians and their works engrafted useful historical documents. Using the works of Ahmadou Korouma, a renown Ivorian writer, the praxis of this paper therefore in New Historicism approach postulates that literary works are underlying unexplored historic materials, and literature a jumelle to history.

Keywords: literature, history, New Historicism, authors

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Authors: Sohail Yasin, Massimo Curti, Nemeshwaree Behary, Giorgio Rovero

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It is well-known that the presence of discarded textile products in municipal landfills poses environmental problems due to leaching of chemical products from the textile to the environment. Incineration of such textiles is considered to be an efficient way to produce energy and reduce environmental impacts of textile materials at their end-of life stage. However, the presence of flame retardant products on textiles would decrease the energy yield and emit toxic gases during incineration stage. While some non-durable flame retardants can be removed by wet treatments (e.g. washing), these substances pollute water and pose concerns towards environmental health. Our study shows that infrared radiation can be used efficiently to degrade flame retardant products on the textiles. This method is finalized to minimize the decrease in energy yield during the incineration or gasification processes of flame retardant cotton fabrics.

Keywords: degradation, flame retardant, infrared radiation, cotton, incineration

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Authors: Mohamed E. Harb, Enas Moustafa, Shaker Ebrahim, Moataz Soliman

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In this paper pressure detectors were synthesized and characterized using hybrid perovskite/PVDF composites as an active layer. Methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) was synthesized from methylammonium iodide (MAI) (CH₃NH₃I) and lead iodide (PbI₂). Composites of perovskite/PVDF using different weight ratio were prepared as the active material. PVDF with weights percentages of 6%, 8%, and 10% was used. All prepared materials were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectrum (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A Versastat 4 Potentiostat Galvanostat instrument was used to perform the current-voltage characteristics of the fabricated sensors. The pressure sensors exhibited a voltage increase with applying different forces. Also, the current-voltage characteristics (CV) showed different effects with applying forces. So, the results showed a good pressure sensing performance.

Keywords: perovskite semiconductor, hybrid perovskite, PVDF, Pressure sensing

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Authors: Uttam Neupane, Narendra Budha, Subash Kumar Bhattarai

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Material management is an essential part in construction project management. There are a number of material management problems in the Nepalese construction industry, which contribute to an inefficient material management system. Ineffective material management can cause waste of time and money thus increasing the problem of time and cost overrun. An assessment of material management system with gap and solution was carried out on 20 construction projects implemented by the Federal Level Project Implementation Unit (FPIU); Kaski district of Nepal. To improve the material management process, the respondents have provided possible solutions to overcome the gaps seen in the current material management process. The possible solutions are preparation of material schedule in line with the construction schedule for material requirement planning, verifications of material and locating of source, purchasing of the required material in advance before commencement of work, classifying the materials, and managing the inventory based on their usage value and eliminating and reduction in wastages during the overall material management process.

Keywords: material management, construction site, inventory, construction project

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Authors: Zhandos Tauanov, Dhawal Shah, Grigorios Itskos, Vasileios Inglezakis

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Removal of mercury (II) from aqueous phase is of utmost importance, as it is highly toxic and hazardous to the environment and human health. One way of removal of mercury (II) ions from aqueous solutions is by using adsorbents derived from coal fly ash (CFA), such as synthetic zeolites. In this work, we present the hydrothermal production of synthetic zeolites from CFA with conversion rate of 75%. In order to produce silver containing nanocomposites, synthetic zeolites are subsequently impregnated with various amounts of silver nanoparticles, from 0.2 to 2wt.%. All produced zeolites and parent materials are characterized by XRD, XRF, BET, SEM, and TEM to obtain morphological and microstructural data. Moreover, mercury (II) ions removal from aqueous solutions with initial concentration of 10 ppm is studied. According to results, zeolites and Ag-nanocomposites demonstrate much higher removal than parent CFA (up to 98%). In addition to this, we could observe a distinct adsorption behavior depending on the loading of Ag NPs in nanocomposites. A possible reaction mechanism for both zeolites and Ag-nanocomposites is discussed.

Keywords: coal fly ash, mercury (II) removal, nanocomposites, silver nanoparticles, synthetic zeolite

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Authors: Junaid Ahmed, Nandita Shenoy

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Maintaining lifelong knowledge and skills is essential for safe clinical practice. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an established method that can facilitate lifelong learning. It focuses on maintaining or developing knowledge, skills and relationships to ensure competent practice.To date, relatively little has been done to comprehensively and systematically synthesize evidence to identify subjects of interest among practising dentist. Hence the aim of our study was to identify areas in clinical practice that would be favourable for continuing professional dental education amongst practicing dentists. Participants of this study consisted of the practicing dental surgeons of Mangalore, a city in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka. 95% of our practitioners felt that regular updating as a one day program once in 3-6 months is required, to keep them abreast in clinical practice. 60% of subjects feel that CPD programs enrich their theoretical knowledge and helps in patient care. 27% of them felt that CPD programs should be related to general dentistry. Most of them felt that CPD programs should not be charged nominally between one to two thousand rupees. The acronym ‘CPD’ should be seen in a broader view in which professionals continuously enhance not only their knowledge and skills, but also their thinking,understanding and maturity; they grow not only as professionals, but also as persons; their development is not restricted to their work roles, but may also extend to new roles and responsibilities.

Keywords: continuing professional development, competent practice, dental education, practising dentist

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Authors: Mohsen Negmeddin

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Throughout their history, ancient Egyptians had known several kinds and types of boats, which were made from two main kinds of materials, the local one, as the dried papyrus reeds and the local tree trunks, the imported one, as the boats which were made from Lebanon cedar tree trunks. A varied using of these boats, as the fish hunting small boats, the transportation and trade boats "Cargo Boats", as well as the ceremonial boats, and the warfare boats. The research is intending for the last one, the warfare boats and the river/maritime battles since the beginning of ancient Egyptian civilization at the pre-historic era up till the end of the second intermediate period, to reveal the kinds and types of those fighting ships before establishing the Egyptian navy at the beginning of the New Kingdome (1550-1770 B.C). Two methods will follow at this research, the mention of names and titles of these ships through the texts (ancient Egyptian language) resources, and the depiction of it at the scenes.

Keywords: the warfare boats, the maritime battles, the pre-historic era, the second intermediate period

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Authors: Thaveesha Dheerasekera, Dileeka Sandamali Alwis

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The escalating prevalence of mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal ideation, is a matter of significant global concern. It is plausible that a variety of factors, such as life events, social isolation, and preexisting physiological or psychological health conditions, could instigate or exacerbate these conditions. Traditional approaches to diagnosing depression entail a considerable amount of time and necessitate the involvement of adept practitioners. This underscores the necessity for automated systems capable of promptly detecting and diagnosing symptoms of depression. The PsyVBot system employs sophisticated natural language processing and machine learning methodologies, including the use of the NLTK toolkit for dataset preprocessing and the utilization of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. The PsyVBot exhibits a remarkable ability to diagnose depression with a 94% accuracy rate through the analysis of user input. Consequently, this resource proves to be efficacious for individuals, particularly those enrolled in academic institutions, who may encounter challenges pertaining to their psychological well-being. The PsyVBot employs a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model that comprises a total of three layers, namely an embedding layer, an LSTM layer, and a dense layer. The stratification of these layers facilitates a precise examination of linguistic patterns that are associated with the condition of depression. The PsyVBot has the capability to accurately assess an individual's level of depression through the identification of linguistic and contextual cues. The task is achieved via a rigorous training regimen, which is executed by utilizing a dataset comprising information sourced from the subreddit r/SuicideWatch. The diverse data present in the dataset ensures precise and delicate identification of symptoms linked with depression, thereby guaranteeing accuracy. PsyVBot not only possesses diagnostic capabilities but also enhances the user experience through the utilization of audio outputs. This feature enables users to engage in more captivating and interactive interactions. The PsyVBot platform offers individuals the opportunity to conveniently diagnose mental health challenges through a confidential and user-friendly interface. Regarding the advancement of PsyVBot, maintaining user confidentiality and upholding ethical principles are of paramount significance. It is imperative to note that diligent efforts are undertaken to adhere to ethical standards, thereby safeguarding the confidentiality of user information and ensuring its security. Moreover, the chatbot fosters a conducive atmosphere that is supportive and compassionate, thereby promoting psychological welfare. In brief, PsyVBot is an automated conversational agent that utilizes an LSTM model to assess the level of depression in accordance with the input provided by the user. The demonstrated accuracy rate of 94% serves as a promising indication of the potential efficacy of employing natural language processing and machine learning techniques in tackling challenges associated with mental health. The reliability of PsyVBot is further improved by the fact that it makes use of the Reddit dataset and incorporates Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) for preprocessing. PsyVBot represents a pioneering and user-centric solution that furnishes an easily accessible and confidential medium for seeking assistance. The present platform is offered as a modality to tackle the pervasive issue of depression and the contemplation of suicide.

Keywords: chatbot, depression diagnosis, LSTM model, natural language process

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Authors: kaveh Jalilzadeh, Maryam Rastgari

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Motivation for learning a foreign language is needed for learners of any foreign language to effectively learn language skills. However, there are some factors that lead to the learners’ demotivation. Therefore, teachers of foreign languages, most notably English language which turned out to be an international language for academic and business purposes, need to be well aware of the demotivation sources and know how to reduce learners’ demotivation. This study is an attempt to explore demotivation-reducing strategies employed by Turkish EFL learners in L2 writing. The researchers used a qualitative case study and employed semi-structured interviews to collect data. The informants recruited in this study were 20 English writing lecturers who were selected through purposive sampling among university lecturers/instructors at the state and non-state universities in Istanbul and Ankara. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and MAXQDA software (version 2022) was used for performing coding and thematic analysis of the data. Findings revealed that Turkish EFL teachers use 18 strategies to reduce language learners’ demotivation. The most frequently reported strategies were: writing in a group, writing about interesting topics, writing about new topics, writing about familiar topics, writing about simple topics, and writing about relevant topics. The findings have practical implications for writing teachers and learners of the English language.

Keywords: phenomenological study, emotional vulnerability, motivation, digital Settings

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Authors: M. Alsaadi, A. Erkliğ, M. Bulut

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This paper experimentally investigates the flexural and tensile properties of the industrial wastes sewage sludge ash (SSA) and fly ash (FA), and conventional ceramic powder silicon carbide (SiC) filled polyester composites. Four weight fractions (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) for each micro filler were used for production of composites. Then, test samples were produced according to ASTM. The resulting degree of particle dispersion in the polymer matrix was visualized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results from this study showed that the tensile strength increased up to its maximum value at filler content 5 wt% of SSA, FA and SiC. Flexural strength increased with addition of particulate filler up to its maximum value at filler content 5 wt% of SSA and FA while for SiC decreased for all weight fractions gradually. The addition of SSA, FA and SiC fillers resulted in increase of tensile and flexural modulus for all the particulate composites. Industrial waste SSA can be used as an additive with polymer to produce composite materials.

Keywords: particle-reinforcement, sewage sludge ash, polymer matrix composites, mechanical properties

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Authors: Cuneyt Yucelbas, Seral Ozsen, Sule Yucelbas, Gulay Tezel

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Due to the fact that there exist only a small number of complex systems in artificial immune system (AIS) that work out nonlinear problems, nonlinear AIS approaches, among the well-known solution techniques, need to be developed. Gaussian function is usually used as similarity estimation in classification problems and pattern recognition. In this study, diagnosis of breast cancer, the second type of the most widespread cancer in women, was performed with different distance calculation functions that euclidean, gaussian and gaussian-euclidean hybrid function in the clonal selection model of classical AIS on Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset (WBCD), which was taken from the University of California, Irvine Machine-Learning Repository. We used 3-fold cross validation method to train and test the dataset. According to the results, the maximum test classification accuracy was reported as 97.35% by using of gaussian-euclidean hybrid function for fold-3. Also, mean of test classification accuracies for all of functions were obtained as 94.78%, 94.45% and 95.31% with use of euclidean, gaussian and gaussian-euclidean, respectively. With these results, gaussian-euclidean hybrid function seems to be a potential distance calculation method, and it may be considered as an alternative distance calculation method for hard nonlinear classification problems.

Keywords: artificial immune system, breast cancer diagnosis, Euclidean function, Gaussian function

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Authors: Mohd Suhaizan Shamsuddin

Abstract:

Urbanization exacerbates the environment quality and pressures of matured urban trees' growth and development in changing environment. The growth of struggled matured urban tree-roots by spreading within the existences of infrastructures, resulting in large damage to the structured and declined growth. Many physiological growths declined or damages by the present and installations of infrastructures within and nearby root zone. Afford to remain both matured urban tree and infrastructures as a service provider causes damage and death, respectively. Inasmuch, spending more expenditure on fixing both or removing matured urban trees as risky to the future environment as the mitigation methods to reduce the problems are unconcerned. This paper aims to explain mitigation method practices of reducing the encountered problems of matured urban tree-roots settling and infrastructures while modified urban soil to sustain at an optimum level. Three categories capturing encountered conflicts growth of matured urban tree-roots growth within and nearby infrastructures by mitigating the problems of limited soil spaces, poor soil structures and soil space barrier installations and maintenance. The limited soil space encountered many conflicts and identified six methods that mitigate the survival tree-roots, such as soil volume/mounding, soil replacement/amendment for the radial trench, soil spacing-root bridge, root tunneling, walkway/pavement rising/diverted, and suspended pavement. The limited soil spaces are mitigation affords of inadequate soil-roots and spreading root settling and modification of construction soil media since the barrier existed and installed in root trails or zones. This is the reason for enabling tree-roots spreading and finds adequate sources (nutrients, water uptake and oxygen), spaces and functioning to stability stand of root anchorage since the matured tree grows larger. The poor soil structures were identified as three methods to mitigate soil materials' problems, and fewer soil voids comprise skeletal soil, structural soil, and soil cell. Mitigation of poor soil structure is altering the existing and introducing new structures by modifying the quantities and materials ratio allowing more voids beneath for roots spreading by considering the above structure of foot and vehicle traffics functioning or load-bearing. The soil space barrier installations and maintenance recognized to sustain both infrastructures and tree-roots grown in limited spaces and its benefits, the root barrier installations and root pruning are recommended. In conclusion, these recommended methods attempt to mitigate the present problems encountered at a particular place and problems among tree-roots and infrastructures exist. The combined method is the best way to alleviates the conflicts since the recognized conflicts are between tree-roots and man-made while the urban soil is modified. These presenting methods are most considered to sustain the matured urban trees' lifespan growth in the urban environment.

Keywords: urban tree-roots, limited soil spaces, poor soil structures, soil space barrier and maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Georgii Emelianov, Mikhail Polikarpov, Fabian Hübner, Jochen Deuse, Jochen Schiemann

Abstract:

Recycling refrigerating appliances plays a major role in protecting the Earth's atmosphere from ozone depletion and emissions of greenhouse gases. The performance of refrigerator recycling plants in terms of material retention is the subject of strict environmental certifications and is reviewed periodically through specialized audits. The continuous collection of Refrigerator data required for the input-output analysis is still mostly manual, error-prone, and not digitalized. In this paper, we propose an automated data collection system for recycling plants in order to deduce expected material contents in individual end-of-life refrigerating appliances. The system utilizes laser scanner measurements and optical data to extract attributes of individual refrigerators by applying transfer learning with pre-trained vision models and optical character recognition. Based on Recognized features, the system automatically provides material categories and target values of contained material masses, especially foaming and cooling agents. The presented data collection system paves the way for continuous performance monitoring and efficient control of refrigerator recycling plants.

Keywords: automation, data collection, performance monitoring, recycling, refrigerators

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Shahbaz Amin, Sabir Hussain Shah, Sahib Khan

Abstract:

This paper presents a thorough review concerning the design types of axial flux permanent magnet machines (AFPM) in terms of different features such as construction, design, materials, and manufacturing. Particular emphasis is given on the design and performance analysis of AFPM machines. A comparison among different permanent magnet machines is also provided. First of all, early and modern axial flux machines are mentioned. Secondly, rotor construction of different axial flux machines is described, then different stator constructions are mentioned depending upon the presence of slots and stator back iron. Then according to the arrangement of the rotor stator structure the machines are classified into single, double and multi-stack arrangements. Advantages, disadvantages and applications of each type of rotor and stator are pointed out. Finally on the basis of the reviewed literature merits, demerits, features and application of different axial flux machines structures are explained and clarified. Thus, this paper provides connection between the machines that are currently being used in industry and the developments of AFPM throughout the years.

Keywords: axial flux machines, axial flux applications, coreless machines, PM machines

Procedia PDF Downloads 194