Search results for: expert assessments are used. In the proposed methodology

Authors: Samia Jamshed Nauman Majeed

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Purpose: Globally, the pandemic of COVID -19 has created a massive distraction for educational reforms influencing learning options, education access, and outcomes of students in more than 190 countries which has carved marks in history. To explore the challenges and complications confronted by students and faculty members while ensuring access to online education, qualitative research was conducted. Methodology: For this purpose, a series of focus group discussions were conducted in different regions of Pakistan, which revealed interesting findings shared by Panelists, which include Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Deans of different private and public sector universities of Pakistan. The qualitative research aims to explore the challenges and success factors of online educations by students with diverse backgrounds of higher education institutions to maximize student educational outcomes. Findings: The findings revealed several challenges and opportunities when it comes to online education for students of higher education institutions. Simultaneously, the researchers discovered the key success factors necessary for online education. Lastly, the paper presents the research limitations and future research recommendations to streamline online education in a better way ensuring the students' success. Originality: The pandemic has forced the closure of social, business, and educational activities, which has drastically influence the quality of education with its subsequent impact on the economy. In response, numerous universities across the globe are forced to suspend their educational activities by closing the universities. Though online education has been adopted worldwide by the universities, which brought numerous issues for academia, particularly for underdeveloped countries, and Pakistani higher education reforms are no exception to this.

Keywords: online education, higher education institutions, COVID-19, challenges, key success factors

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Authors: P. Chang, C. Lopez, C. Burbano

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Flood protection zones are riparian buffers that are formed to manage and mitigate the impact of flooding, and in turn, protect local populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Guía Técnica de Criterios para el Acotamiento de las Rondas Hídricas in Colombia against international regulations in Canada and Spain, in order to determine its limitations and contribute to its improvement. The need to establish a specific corridor that allows for the dynamic development of a river is clear; however, limitations present in the Colombian Technical Guide are identified. The study shows that international regulations provide similar concepts as used in Colombia, but additionally integrate aspects such as regionalization that allows for a better characterization of the channel way, and incorporate the frequency of flooding and its probability of occurrence in the concept of risk when determining the protection zone. The case study analyzed in Dosquebradas - Risaralda aimed at comparing the application of the different standards through hydraulic modeling. It highlights that the current Colombian standard does not offer sufficient details in its implementation phase, which leads to a false sense of security related to inaccuracy and lack of data. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how the Colombian norm is ill-adapted to the conditions of Dosquebradas typical of the Andes region, both in the social and hydraulic aspects, and does not reduce the risk, nor does it improve the protection of the population. Our study considers it pertinent to include risk estimation as an integral part of the methodology when establishing protect flood zone, considering the particularity of water systems, as they are characterized by an heterogeneous natural dynamic behavior.

Keywords: environmental corridor, flood zone determination, hydraulic domain, legislation flood protection zone

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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: 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: Syukri Himran, Rustan Taraka, Anto Duma

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The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of latent and sensible thermal energy storage within a paraffin wax media by an array of cylindrical tubes arranged both in in-line and staggered layouts. An analytical and experimental study was carried out in a horizontal shell-and-tube type system during the melting process. Pertamina paraffin-wax was used as a phase change material (PCM), where as the tubes are embedded in the PCM. From analytical study we can obtain the useful information in designing a thermal energy storage such as : the motion of interface, amount of material melted at any time in the process, and the heat storage characteristic during melting. The use of staggered tubes is proposed as superior to in-line layout for thermal storage. The experimental study was used to verify the validity of the analytical predictions. From the comparisons, the analytical and experimental data are in a good agreement.

Keywords: latent, sensible, paraffin-wax, thermal energy storage, conduction, natural convection

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Authors: Nasrullah khan

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Today business environment is very dynamic and most of organizations are in tough competition for their added values and sustainable hold in market. To achieve such objectives, organizations must have dynamic and creative people as optimized process. To get these people, there should strong human resource management system in organizations. There are multiple approaches have been devised in literature to hire more job relevant and more suitable people. This study proposed an ANP (Analytic Network Process) approach to hire faculty members for a university system. This study consists of two parts. In fist part, a through literature survey and universities interview are conducted in order to find the common criteria for the selection of academic staff. In second part the available candidates are prioritized on the basis of the relative values of these criteria. According to results the GRE & foreign language, GPA and research paper writing were most important factors for the selection of academic staff.

Keywords: creative people, ANP, academic staff, business environment

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Authors: Sang Hun Park, Chul Gyu Song

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Artery and vein occlusion changes observed in patients and experimental animals are unexplainable symptoms. As the fat accumulated in cardiovascular ruptures, it causes vascular blocking. Likewise, early detection of cardiovascular disease can be useful for treatment. In this study, we used the mouse femoral occlusion model to observe the arterial and venous occlusion changes without darkroom. We observed the femoral arterial flow pattern changes by proposed fluorescent imaging system using an animal model of thrombosis. We adjusted the near-infrared light source current in order to control the intensity of the fluorescent substance light. We got the clear fluorescent images and femoral artery flow pattern were measured by a 5-minute interval. The result showed that the fluorescent substance flowing in the femoral arteries were accumulated in thrombus as time passed, and the fluorescence of other vessels gradually decreased.

Keywords: thrombus, fluorescence, femoral, arteries

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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: Alex Gonzalez Caceres, Jan Karlshøj, Tor Arvid Vik

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Life cycle of residential buildings are expected to be several decades, 40% of European residential buildings have inefficient energy conservation measure. The existing building represents 20-40% of the energy use and the CO₂ emission. Since net zero energy buildings are a short-term goal, (should be achieved by EU countries after 2020), is necessary to plan the next logical step, which is to prepare the existing outdated stack of building to retrofit them into an energy efficiency buildings. In order to accomplish this, two specialize and widespread tool can be used Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). BIM and LCA are tools used by a variety of disciplines; both are able to represent and analyze the constructions in different stages. The combination of these technologies could improve greatly the retrofitting techniques. The incorporation of the carbon footprint, introducing a single database source for different material analysis. To this is added the possibility of considering different analysis approaches such as costs and energy saving. Is expected with these measures, enrich the decision-making. The methodology is based on two main activities; the first task involved the collection of data this is accomplished by literature review and interview with experts in the retrofitting field and BIM technologies. The results of this task are presented as an evaluation checklist of BIM ability to manage data and improve decision-making in retrofitting projects. The last activity involves an evaluation using the results of the previous tasks, to check how far the IFC format can support the requirements by each specialist, and its uses by third party software. The result indicates that BIM/LCA have a great potential to improve the retrofitting process in existing buildings, but some modification must be done in order to meet the requirements of the specialists for both, retrofitting and LCA evaluators.

Keywords: retrofitting, BIM, LCA, energy efficiency

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Authors: Lily Yarney, Emmanuel M. Y. Seidu, Thomas Chireh Kuusaanu, Belinda Adzimah-Yeboah

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Healthcare delivery is labor-intensive; the role of the health worker is, therefore, indispensable in maintaining and improving individual and population health. In Ghana, doctor-patient ratio is 1:10,450, with a disproportionate tilt in favor of the relatively resource rich southern part of the country. The Upper West Region located in Northern Ghana, is among the poorest regions in the country. The study was aimed at finding out the reasons why medical doctors are unwilling to accept postings to the Upper West Region where their services are needed most despite some efforts to attract, motivate and retain them. Current initiatives by the Ministry of Health and its partners to attract and retain doctors in the region were also examined. Qualitative methodology was employed with an in-depth interview guide to collect data. Sixteen respondents comprising medical doctors, health managers, and other health-related partners purposively selected took part in the study. Data were recorded, transcribed, coded, and categorized into themes in tandem with the objectives of the study. The study found that medical doctors are unwilling to take up appointments in the Upper West Region because of limited opportunities for career and continuing professional development, poor financial inducement, and weak leadership, among other important contextual social and cultural factors. Critical success factors to surmount these challenges include concessions and sponsorship for medical specialization training for doctors and clear implementable national and local policies on postings.

Keywords: attraction, retention, medical doctors, deprived regions, Ghana

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Authors: Erfan Abdeldaim Mohamed Ahmed Abdalla

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The era of the knowledge explosion in which we live requires us to develop educational curricula quantitatively and qualitatively to adapt to the twenty-first-century skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, cooperation, creativity, and innovation. The process of developing the curriculum is as significant as building it; in fact, the development of curricula may be more difficult than building them. And curriculum development includes analyzing needs, setting goals, designing the content and educational materials, creating language programs, developing teachers, applying for programmes in schools, monitoring and feedback, and then evaluating the language programme resulting from these processes. When we look back at the history of language teaching during the twentieth century, we find that developing the delivery method is the most crucial aspect of change in language teaching doctrines. The concept of delivery method in teaching is a systematic set of teaching practices based on a specific theory of language acquisition. This is a key consideration, as the process of development must include all the curriculum elements in its comprehensive sense: linguistically and non-linguistically. The various Arabic curricula provide the student with a set of units, each unit consisting of a set of linguistic elements. These elements are often not logically arranged, and more importantly, they neglect essential points and highlight other less important ones. Moreover, the educational curricula entail a great deal of monotony in the presentation of content, which makes it hard for the teacher to select adequate content; so that the teacher often navigates among diverse references to prepare a lesson and hardly finds the suitable one. Similarly, the student often gets bored when learning the Arabic language and fails to fulfill considerable progress in it. Therefore, the problem is not related to the lack of curricula, but the problem is the development of the curriculum with all its linguistic and non-linguistic elements in accordance with contemporary challenges and standards for teaching foreign languages. The Arabic library suffers from a lack of references for curriculum development. In this paper, the researcher investigates the elements of development, such as the teacher, content, methods, objectives, evaluation, and activities. Hence, a set of general guidelines in the field of educational development were reached. The paper highlights the need to identify weaknesses in educational curricula, decide the twenty-first-century skills that must be employed in Arabic education curricula, and the employment of foreign language teaching standards in current Arabic Curricula. The researcher assumes that the series of teaching Arabic to speakers of other languages in regular schools do not address the skills of the twenty-first century, which is what the researcher tries to apply in the proposed unit. The experimental method is the method of this study. It is based on two groups: experimental and control. The development of an educational unit will help build suitable educational series for students of the Arabic language in regular schools, in which twenty-first-century skills and standards for teaching foreign languages will be addressed and be more useful and attractive to students.

Keywords: curriculum, development, Arabic language, non-native, skills

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Authors: Gelacio Juárez-Luna, Gustavo Ayala, Jaime Retama-Velasco

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This paper shows the advantages of the material failure process simulation by improve finite elements with embedded discontinuities, using a new definition of traction vector, dependent on the discontinuity length and the angle. Particularly, two families of this kind of elements are compared: kinematically optimal symmetric and statically and kinematically optimal non-symmetric. The constitutive model to describe the behavior of the material in the symmetric formulation is a traction-displacement jump relationship equipped with softening after reaching the failure surface. To show the validity of this symmetric formulation, representative numerical examples illustrating the performance of the proposed formulation are presented. It is shown that the non-symmetric family may over or underestimate the energy required to create a discontinuity, as this effect is related with the total length of the discontinuity, fact that is not noticed when the discontinuity path is a straight line.

Keywords: variational formulation, strong discontinuity, embedded discontinuities, strain localization

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Authors: Tanmay Bisen, Aastha Shayla, Susham Biswas

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Oil spills from tankers can cause significant harm to the environment and local communities, as well as have economic consequences. Early predictions of oil spills can help to minimize these impacts. Our proposed system uses machine learning and neural networks to predict potential oil spills by monitoring data from ship Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). The model analyzes ship movements, speeds, and changes in direction to identify patterns that deviate from the norm and could indicate a potential spill. Our approach not only identifies anomalies but also predicts spills before they occur, providing early detection and mitigation measures. This can prevent or minimize damage to the reputation of the company responsible and the country where the spill takes place. The model's performance on the MV Wakashio oil spill provides insight into its ability to detect and respond to real-world oil spills, highlighting areas for improvement and further research.

Keywords: Anomaly Detection, Oil Spill Prediction, Machine Learning, Image Processing, Graph Neural Network (GNN)

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Authors: Sewon Kim, Chang Yeop Lee, Minjun Kwon

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This study is aiming at establishing the relationship between the optical signal of flame and an equivalent ratio of flame. In this experiment, flame optical signal in a furnace is measured using photodiode. The combustion system which is composed of metal fiber burner and vertical furnace and flame chemiluminescence is measured at various experimental conditions. In this study, the flame chemiluminescence of laminar premixed flame is measured by using commercially available photodiode. It is experimentally investigated the relationship between equivalent ratio and photodiode signal. In addition, The strategy of combustion control method is proposed by using the optical signal and fuel pressure. The results showed that certain relationship between optical data of photodiode and equivalence ratio exists and this leads to the successful application of this system for instantaneous measurement of equivalence ration of the combustion system.

Keywords: flame chemiluminescence, photo diode, equivalence ratio, combustion control

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Authors: Venkatesh Kumar, Kasun Hewage, Rehan Sadiq

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Residential buildings consume significant amounts of energy and produce a large amount of emissions and waste. However, there is a substantial potential for energy savings in this sector which needs to be evaluated over the life cycle of residential buildings. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been employed to study the primary energy uses and associated environmental impacts of different phases (i.e., product, construction, use, end of life, and beyond building life) for residential buildings. Four different alternatives of residential buildings in Vancouver (BC, Canada) with a 50-year lifespan have been evaluated, including High Rise Apartment (HRA), Low Rise Apartment (LRA), Single family Attached House (SAH), and Single family Detached House (SDH). Life cycle performance of the buildings is evaluated for embodied energy, embodied environmental impacts, operational energy, operational environmental impacts, total life-cycle energy, and total life cycle environmental impacts. Estimation of operational energy and LCA are performed using DesignBuilder software and Athena Impact estimator software respectively. The study results revealed that over the life span of the buildings, the relationship between the energy use and the environmental impacts are identical. LRA is found to be the best alternative in terms of embodied energy use and embodied environmental impacts; while, HRA showed the best life-cycle performance in terms of minimum energy use and environmental impacts. Sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to study the influence of building service lifespan over 50, 75, and 100 years on the relative significance of embodied energy and total life cycle energy. The life-cycle energy requirements for SDH is found to be a significant component among the four types of residential buildings. The overall disclose that the primary operations of these buildings accounts for 90% of the total life cycle energy which far outweighs minor differences in embodied effects between the buildings.

Keywords: building simulation, environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, life cycle energy analysis, residential buildings

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Authors: Judith Hanke

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Due to the rise of students with reading difficulties, a digital reading support was developed. The digital reading support focuses on reading comprehension of elementary school students. It consists of literary texts and reading exercises with diagnostics. To analyze the use of the reading packages an intervention study took place in 2023. For the methodology, an ABA-design was selected for the intervention study to examine the reading packages. The study was expedited from April 2023 until July 2023 and collected quantitative data of individuals, groups, and classes. It consisted of a survey group (N = 58) and a control group (N = 53). The pretest was conducted before the reading support intervention. The students of the survey group received reading support on their ability level to aid the individual student’s needs. At the beginning of the study characteristics of the students were collected. The characteristics included gender, age, repetition of a class, spoken language at home, German as a second language, and special support needs such as dyslexia; right after the intervention, the posttest was examined. At least three weeks after the intervention, the follow-up testing was administered. A standardized reading comprehension test was used for the three test times. The test consists of three subtests: word comprehension, sentence comprehension, and text comprehension. The focus of this paper is to determine which characteristics have an impact on reading comprehension of elementary school students. The students’ characteristics were correlated with the three test times through a Pearson correlation. The main findings are that age, repetition of a class, spoken language at home, German as a second language have an effect on reading comprehension. Interestingly gender and special support needs did not have a significant effect on the reading comprehension of the students. The significance of the study is to determine which characteristics have an impact on reading comprehension and then to assess how reading support can be modified to support the diverse students.

Keywords: class repetition, reading comprehension, reading support, second language, spoken language at home

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Authors: Mercy D. Chirwa, Juliet Nyasulu, Lebisti Modiba, Makombo Ganga-Limando

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Maternal death review is an initiative that provides a deeper understanding of the causes and circumstances sorounding of maternal deaths in Malawi and globally. Midwives are frontline members of the healthcare team and have stories about what pregnant women go through as such they are better placed to contribute to these reviews. Despite midwives’ participation as members of the facility-based maternal death review team, maternal deaths continues to occur. A lot has been documented around processes involved in maternal review, however, not much has been written around challenges experienced by midwives in maternal death review. This study explored the challenges faced by midwives in the implementation of maternal death reviews in the context of the healthcare system in Malawi. Methodology: This was a qualitative exploratory study design. Focus group discussions and individual face-to-face interviews were used to collect data in the study. A total of 40 midwives, who met the inclusion criteria, participated in the study. Data was analysed manually using a thematic content procedure. Findings: The four major challenges identified were: knowledge and skill gaps; lack of leadership and accountability; lack of institutional political will and inconsistency in conducting FBMDR, impeding midwives’ effective contribution to the implementation of maternal death review. The practical solutions and recommendations that emerged were: need-based knowledge and skills updates, supportive leadership, effective and efficient interdisciplinary work ethics, and sustained availability of material and human resources. Conclusion: Midwives have the highest potential to contribute to the reduction of maternal deaths. Practice development strategies are required to improve their practice in all the areas they are challenged with.

Keywords: facility-based maternal death review, maternal deaths, midwife, midwife challenges

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Authors: Malika Yaici, Kamel Hariche

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In control engineering, systems described by matrix fractions are studied through properties of block roots, also called solvents. These solvents are usually dealt with in a block Vandermonde matrix form. Inverses and determinants of Vandermonde matrices and block Vandermonde matrices are used in solving problems of numerical analysis in many domains but require costly computations. Even though Vandermonde matrices are well known and method to compute inverse and determinants are many and, generally, based on interpolation techniques, methods to compute the inverse and determinant of a block Vandermonde matrix have not been well studied. In this paper, some properties of these matrices and iterative algorithms to compute the determinant and the inverse of a block Vandermonde matrix are given. These methods are deducted from the partitioned matrix inversion and determinant computing methods. Due to their great size, parallelization may be a solution to reduce the computations cost, so a parallelization of these algorithms is proposed and validated by a comparison using algorithmic complexity.

Keywords: block vandermonde matrix, solvents, matrix polynomial, matrix inverse, matrix determinant, parallelization

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Authors: Suparman

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Piecewise linear regression models are very flexible models for modeling the data. If the piecewise linear regression models are matched against the data, then the parameters are generally not known. This paper studies the problem of parameter estimation of piecewise linear regression models. The method used to estimate the parameters of picewise linear regression models is Bayesian method. But the Bayes estimator can not be found analytically. To overcome these problems, the reversible jump MCMC algorithm is proposed. Reversible jump MCMC algorithm generates the Markov chain converges to the limit distribution of the posterior distribution of the parameters of picewise linear regression models. The resulting Markov chain is used to calculate the Bayes estimator for the parameters of picewise linear regression models.

Keywords: regression, piecewise, Bayesian, reversible Jump MCMC

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Authors: Zijiao Chai, Wangming Li

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Hangzhou is one of the cities with the most serious aging in China. Community home-based care for the aged is an important solution to old-age care in aging society. In this aspect, Europe, the United States and Japan are on the top in the world. As an East Asian country, Japan has similar cultural traditions in pension with China. So, there is much enlightenment China can get from Japan in the mode of community home-based care for the aged. This paper introduces the mode of community home-based care for the aged in Kishiwada, Japan and Hangzhou, China. Then compare the two modes in the aspects of insurance system for the aged, community service and facilities, support system and so on. Thereby the success experience of Kishiwada and weaknesses of Hangzhou are summarized. At last, the improvement strategy of facility plan and service mode of community home-based care for the aged in China are also proposed.

Keywords: community, comparison, elderly-oriented, home-based care for the aged, support system

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Authors: N. Fhafhiem, P. Krachodnok, R. Wongsan

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This paper proposes the development and design of double layer metamaterials based on electromagnetic band gap (EBG) rods as a superstrate of a resonator antenna to enhance required antenna characteristics for the mobile base station. The metallic rod type metamaterial can partially reflect wave of a primary radiator. The antenna was designed and analyzed by a simulation result from CST Microwave Studio and designed technique could be confirmed by a measurement results from prototype antenna that agree with simulation results. The results indicate that the antenna can also generate a dual polarization by using a 45˚ oriented curved strip dipole located at the center of the reflector plane with double layer superstrate. It can be used to simplify the feed system of an antenna. The proposed antenna has a bandwidth covering the frequency range of 1920 – 2200 MHz, the gain of the antenna increases up to 14.06 dBi. In addition, an interesting sectoral 60˚ pattern is presented in horizontal plane.

Keywords: metamaterial, electromagnetic band gap, dual polarization, resonator antenna

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Authors: Ahmed Hamida Boudinar, Noureddine Benouzza, Azeddine Bendiabdellah, Mohamed El Amine Khodja

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This paper describes a new diagnosis approach for identification of the progressive stator winding inter-turn short-circuit fault in induction motor. This approach is based on a simple monitoring of the combined information related to both magnitude and phase-angle obtained from the fundamental by the three line currents frequency analysis. In addition, to simplify the interpretation and analysis of the data; a new graphical tool based on a triangular representation is suggested. This representation, depending on its size, enables to visualize in a simple and clear manner, the existence of the stator inter-turn short-circuit fault and its discrimination with respect to a healthy stator. Experimental results show well the benefit and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Keywords: induction motor, magnitude, phase-angle, spectral analysis, stator fault

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Authors: Sajan Antony Mathew, Bhukya Ramdas

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Abstract—The impetus of wind energy deployment over the last few decades has seen potential sites being harvested very actively for wind farm development. Due to the scarce availability of highly potential sites, the turbines are getting more optimized in its location wherein minimum spacing between the turbines are resorted without comprising on the optimization of its energy yield. The optimization of the energy yield from a wind turbine is achieved by effective micrositing techniques. These time-tested techniques which are applied from site to site on terrain conditions that meet the requirements of the International standard for power performance measurements of wind turbines result in the positioning of wind turbines for optimized energy yields. The international standard for Power Curve Measurements has rules of procedure and methodology to evaluate the terrain, obstacles and sector for measurements. There are many challenges at the sites for complying with the requirements for terrain, obstacles and sector for measurements. Studies are being attempted to carry out these measurements within the scope of the international standard as various other procedures specified in alternate standards or the integration of LIDAR for Power Curve Measurements are in the nascent stage. The paper strives to assist in the understanding of the fact that if positioning of a wind turbine at a site is based on an optimized output, then there are no wake effects seen on the power curve of an adjacent wind turbine. The paper also demonstrates that an invalid sector for measurements could be used in the analysis in alteration to the requirement as per the international standard for power performance measurements. Therefore the paper strives firstly to demonstrate that if a wind turbine is optimally positioned, no wake effects are seen and secondly the sector for measurements in such a case could include sectors which otherwise would have to be excluded as per the requirements of International standard for power performance measurements.

Keywords: micrositing, optimization, power performance, wake effects

Procedia PDF Downloads 462

Authors: Hualter Oliveira Barbosa, Raquel Feitosa do Vale Cunha, Erika Muniz dos Santos, Fernanda Belmira Souza, Fabio Sousa, Luis Henrique Pascareli, Franciney de Oliveira Lima, Ana Cláudia Reis da Silva, Christiane Moreira de Almeida

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Software development is intrinsic human-based knowledge-intensive. Due to globalization, software development has become a complex challenge and we usually face barriers related to knowledge management, team building, costly testing processes, especially in distributed settings. For this reason, several approaches have been proposed to minimize barriers caused by geographic distance. In this paper, we present as we use experimental studies to improve our knowledge management process using the Wiki system. According to the results, it was possible to identify learning preferences from our software projects leader team, organize and improve the learning experience of our Wiki and; facilitate collaboration by newcomers to improve Wiki with new contents available in the Wiki.

Keywords: mobile product, knowledge transfer, knowledge management process, wiki, GSD

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Authors: M. H. Kazemi, D. Salac

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A semi-implicit phase field method for droplet evolution is proposed. Using the phase field Cahn-Hilliard equation, we are able to track the interface in multiphase flow. The idea of a semi-implicit finite difference scheme is reviewed and employed to solve two nonlinear equations, including the Navier-Stokes and the Cahn-Hilliard equations. The use of a semi-implicit method allows us to have larger time steps compared to explicit schemes. The governing equations are coupled and then solved by a GMRES solver (generalized minimal residual method) using modified Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization. To show the validity of the method, we apply the method to the simulation of a rising droplet, a leaky dielectric drop and the coalescence of drops. The numerical solutions to the phase field model match well with existing solutions over a defined range of variables.

Keywords: coalescence, leaky dielectric, numerical method, phase field, rising droplet, semi-implicit method

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Authors: Jocelyn D. Perreault

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An exploratory study has been launched in 2013-2014 in the province of Quebec, the state of Vermont (USA) and the region of Zaer in Morocco. We have realized three first case studies in order to better understand the marketing strategies of starting up vineries, which are defined as having a maximum of five years of operations. The methodology used consisted of visiting the vineyards; conducting semi-directed interviews with owner-managers; visiting points-of-sale of the wines and analysing the web sites using an assessment grid. The results indicate many differences between the three firms in their use of their web sites. More precisely, we have noticed that: -The Quebec vineyard uses its web site in collaboration with the touristic actors of its region and the association of the wine makers of the province of Quebec.Positioning is as a touristic attraction. -In comparison,the Moroccan firm limits the content of the web site to itself and its activities and somehow to the wine industry.Positioning is as a wine specialist. -The american firm associated its web site more to farm markets actors and activities of the region.Positioning is as an agricultural actor. -The positionings of the three vineyards are very different from each others and will be discussed more thoroughly during the presentation to better understand the use of web sites, thus contributing to the «brand image». -Improvements to the three web sites have been identified and suggested by more than a hundred of persons using the same grid and comprising students of bachelor and MBA degrees from our university. In general, the web sites have been considered satisfying but requiring several improvements at different levels. Changes or updates have been observed for the Quebec winery web site but practically no changes have been made to the others in the last months. The assessment grid will be presented in more details as well as the global and the partial scores given by the respondents. In conclusion, we have noticed that only one winery is considered as a «heavy and strategic user» of its web site and of Facebook and Twitter.

Keywords: web site, wineries, marketing, positioning, starting up strategies

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Authors: Gajanan M. Sonwane

Abstract:

Nowadays, the entire pharmaceutical industry is facing the challenge of increasing efficiency and innovation. The major hurdles are the growing cost of research and development and a concurrent stagnating number of new chemical entities (NCEs). Hence, the challenge is to select the most druggable targets and to search the equivalent drug-like compounds, which also possess specific pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties that allow them to be developed as drugs. The present research work includes the studies of developing new anticancer heterocycles by using molecular modeling techniques. The heterocycles synthesized through such methodology are much effective as various physicochemical parameters have been already studied and the structure has been optimized for its best fit in the receptor. Hence, on the basis of the literature survey and considering the need to develop newer anticancer agents, new phenazinamine derivatives were designed by subjecting the nucleus to molecular modeling, viz., GQSAR analysis and docking studies. Simultaneously, these designed derivatives were subjected to in silico prediction of biological activity through PASS studies and then in silico toxicity risk assessment studies. In PASS studies, it was found that all the derivatives exhibited a good spectrum of biological activities confirming its anticancer potential. The toxicity risk assessment studies revealed that all the derivatives obey Lipinski’s rule. Amongst these series, compounds 4c, 5b and 6c were found to possess logP and drug-likeness values comparable with the standard Imatinib (used for anticancer activity studies) and also with the standard drug methotrexate (used for antimitotic activity studies). One of the most notable mutations is the threonine to isoleucine mutation at codon 315 (T315I), which is known to be resistant to all currently available TKI. Enzyme assay planned for confirmation of target selective activity.

Keywords: drug design, tyrosine kinases, anticancer, Phenazinamine

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Authors: Domenico Chizzoniti, Monica Moscatelli, Letizia Cattani, Piero Favino, Luca Preis

Abstract:

A settlement strategy is to anticipate and respond the needs of existing and future communities through the provision of primary health care facilities in marginalized areas. Access to a health care network is important to improving healthcare coverage, often lacking, in developing countries. The study explores that a good sanitary system strategy of rural contexts brings advantages to an existing settlement: improving transport, communication, water and social facilities. The objective of this paper is to define a possible methodology to implement primary health care facilities in disadvantaged areas of emerging countries. In this research, we analyze the case study of Lauro de Freitas, a municipality in the Brazilian state of Bahia, part of the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, with an area of 57,662 km² and 194.641 inhabitants. The health localization system in Lauro de Freitas is an integrated process that involves not only geographical aspects, but also a set of factors: population density, epidemiological data, allocation of services, road networks, and more. Data were collected also using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to the local population. Synthesized data suggest that moving away from the coast where there is the greatest concentration of population and services, a network of primary health care facilities is able to improve the living conditions of small-dispersed communities. Based on the health service needs of populations, we have developed a methodological approach that is particularly useful in rural and remote contexts in emerging countries.

Keywords: healthcare, settlement strategy, urban health, rural

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: S. V. Prabhakar Vattikuti, Chan Byon

Abstract:

In this paper, we report a facile synthetic strategy of randomly disturbed Bi₂S₃ nanorods on WS₂ nanosheets, which are synthesized via a controlled hydrothermal method without surfactant under an inert atmosphere. We developed a simple hydrothermal method for the formation of heterostructured of Bi₂S₃/WS₂ with a large scale (>95%). The structural features, composition, and morphology were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, TEM, HRTEM, XPS, UV-vis spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption-desorption, and TG-DTA measurements. The heterostructured Bi₂S₃/WS₂ composite has significant photocatalytic efficiency toward the photodegradation of organic dye. The time-dependent UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy measurement was consistent with the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation with the diminishing carrier recombination for the Bi₂S₃/WS₂ photocatalyst. Due to their marked synergistic effects, the supported Bi₂S₃ nanorods on WS₂ nanosheet heterostructures exhibit significant visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability for the degradation of RhB. A possible reaction mechanism is proposed for the Bi₂S₃/WS₂ composite.

Keywords: photocatalyst, heterostructures, transition metal disulfides, organic dye, nanorods

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Farideh Gheitasi, Amir Hossain Jaberansari, Payam Abedini

Abstract:

The World Health Organization (WHO) Manifesto for Safe Communities states that "All human beings have an equal right to health and safety". The purpose of a safe Community is to minimize the damages threatening people. It seems that not sufficient attention has been given to relate environment and objectives of the safe Community. The reason for that can be assigned to the lack of enough information about environmental parameters and their relation with indices of the safe community like type and effect time of damages resulting from air pollution. Air pollution can be characterized as one of main environmental problems of Tehran. This problem is mostly due to the special geographic and climate situation, high population density and irregular growth in the number of vehicles. This paper is aimed at investigating the necessity of considering environmental factors to obtain a safe community through determining the effects of environmental pollution, particularly air pollution, on 490000 elders (+65) of Tehran. The methodology used in this study was on the basis of Random sampling and social surveying. The number of questionnaires was determined to be 321 through using Cochran method and the questionnaires were filled out by elders during personal interviews. The analysis of obtained results indicated that elders believe the major effects of air pollution include heart and respiratory diseases, obligation to stay at home on polluted days and its associated mental problems. Moreover, it was found that there is direct link between the number of polluted days and mortality frequency of elders. Having an environmental view may have an appreciable influence on the qualitative and quantitative development of activities and also facilitate obtaining the goals of the Safe Communities. In addition to reduce damages caused by pollutions, this view will encourage friends of the environment to cooperate with authorities of the safe community.

Keywords: air pollution, elderly people, environment, waste management

Procedia PDF Downloads 486