Search results for: Baguma Daniel Kajura
424 Renewable Energy System Eolic-Photovoltaic for the Touristic Center La Tranca-Chordeleg in Ecuador
Authors: Christian Castro Samaniego, Daniel Icaza Alvarez, Juan Portoviejo Brito
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For this research work, hybrid wind-photovoltaic (SHEF) systems were considered as renewable energy sources that take advantage of wind energy and solar radiation to transform into electrical energy. In the present research work, the feasibility of a wind-photovoltaic hybrid generation system was analyzed for the La Tranca tourist viewpoint of the Chordeleg canton in Ecuador. The research process consisted of the collection of data on solar radiation, temperature, wind speed among others by means of a meteorological station. Simulations were carried out in MATLAB/Simulink based on a mathematical model. In the end, we compared the theoretical radiation-power curves and the measurements made at the site.Keywords: hybrid system, wind turbine, modeling, simulation, validation, experimental data, panel, Ecuador
Procedia PDF Downloads 238423 Developing a Systemic Approach for Understanding the Factors Influencing Participation in Recreational Angling
Authors: Daniel Phillip Svozil, Eileen Petrie, Kristy Robson, Lee Baumgartner, Max Finlayson
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Recreational angling is recognized for its potential to improve health and wellbeing which has translated into policy initiatives to increase participation in the sport. However, these benefits have been examined mostly among voluntary participants. Thus, there is an assumption that recreational angling is perceived equally and that these benefits may be evident even to non-anglers. This paper reviews the published benefits to health and wellbeing of recreational angling and proposes an approach to systemically analyze interactions among the perceptions, socio-economic barriers, and knowledge of these benefits among people at different levels of participation (including non-participants). The outcomes of this study will assist in identifying the feasibility of recreational angling for improving health and wellbeing outcomes among participants (i.e., fishing may not be for everyone) and designing interventions that address the perceptions and socio-economic barriers among individuals that may benefit from participation in recreational angling.Keywords: angling, health, wellbeing, connecting with nature
Procedia PDF Downloads 238422 The Utilization of Big Data in Knowledge Management Creation
Authors: Daniel Brian Thompson, Subarmaniam Kannan
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The huge weightage of knowledge in this world and within the repository of organizations has already reached immense capacity and is constantly increasing as time goes by. To accommodate these constraints, Big Data implementation and algorithms are utilized to obtain new or enhanced knowledge for decision-making. With the transition from data to knowledge provides the transformational changes which will provide tangible benefits to the individual implementing these practices. Today, various organization would derive knowledge from observations and intuitions where this information or data will be translated into best practices for knowledge acquisition, generation and sharing. Through the widespread usage of Big Data, the main intention is to provide information that has been cleaned and analyzed to nurture tangible insights for an organization to apply to their knowledge-creation practices based on facts and figures. The translation of data into knowledge will generate value for an organization to make decisive decisions to proceed with the transition of best practices. Without a strong foundation of knowledge and Big Data, businesses are not able to grow and be enhanced within the competitive environment.Keywords: big data, knowledge management, data driven, knowledge creation
Procedia PDF Downloads 102421 Stability Analysis of a Human-Mosquito Model of Malaria with Infective Immigrants
Authors: Nisha Budhwar, Sunita Daniel
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In this paper, we analyse the stability of the SEIR model of malaria with infective immigrants which was recently formulated by the authors. The model consists of an SEIR model for the human population and SI Model for the mosquitoes. Susceptible humans become infected after they are bitten by infectious mosquitoes and move on to the Exposed, Infected and Recovered classes respectively. The susceptible mosquito becomes infected after biting an infected person and remains infected till death. We calculate the reproduction number R0 using the next generation method and then discuss about the stability of the equilibrium points. We use the Lyapunov function to show the global stability of the equilibrium points.Keywords: equilibrium points, exposed, global stability, infective immigrants, Lyapunov function, recovered, reproduction number, susceptible
Procedia PDF Downloads 352420 Tinder, Image Merchandise and Desire: The Configuration of Social Ties in Today's Neoliberalism
Authors: Daniel Alvarado Valencia
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Nowadays, the market offers us solutions for everything, creating the idea of an immediate availability of anything we could desire, and the Internet is the mean through which to obtain all this. The proposal of this conference is that this logic puts the subjects in a situation of self-exploitation, and considers the psyche as a productive force by configuring affection and desire from a neoliberal value perspective. It uses Tinder, starting from ethnographical data from Mexico City users, as an example for this. Tinder is an application created to get dates, have sexual encounters and find a partner. It works from the creation and management of a digital profile. It is an example of how futuristic and lonely the current era can be since we got used to interact with other people through screens and images. However, at the same time, it provides solutions to loneliness, since technology transgresses, invades and alters social practices in different ways. Tinder fits into this contemporary context, it is a concrete example of the processes of technification in which social bonds develop through certain devices offered by neoliberalism, through consumption, and where the search of love and courtship are possible through images and their consumption.Keywords: desire, image, merchandise, neoliberalism
Procedia PDF Downloads 114419 Improving Law Enforcement Strategies Through Geographic Information Systems: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Antisocial Activities in Móstoles (2022)
Authors: Daniel Suarez Alonso
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This study has tried to focus on the alternatives offered to police institutions by the implementation of Geographic Information systems. Providing operational police commanders with effective and efficient tools, providing analytical capacity to reduce criminal opportunities, must be a priority. Given the intimate connection of crimes and infractions to the environment, law enforcement institutions must respond proactively to changing circumstances of anti-norm behaviors. To this end, it has been intended to analyze the antisocial spatial distribution of the city of Móstoles, trying to identify those spatiotemporal patterns that occur to anticipate their commission through the planning of dynamic preventive strategies. The application of GIS offers alternative analytical approaches to the different problems that underlie the development of life in society, focusing resources on those places with the highest concentration of incidents.Keywords: data analysis, police organizations, police prevention, geographic information systems
Procedia PDF Downloads 39418 Plasma-Induced Modification of Biomolecules: A Tool for Analysis of Protein Structures
Authors: Yuting Wu, Faraz Choudhury, Daniel Benjamin, James Whalin, Joshua Blatz, Leon Shohet, Michael Sussman, Mark Richards
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Plasma-Induced Modification of Biomolecules (PLIMB) has been developed as a technology, which, together with mass spectrometry, measures three-dimensional structural characteristics of proteins. This technique uses hydroxyl radicals generated by atmospheric-pressure plasma discharge to react with the solvent-accessible side chains of protein in an aqueous solution. In this work, we investigate the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin using PLIMB. Additional modifications to these proteins, such as oxidation, fragmentations, and conformational changes caused by PLIMB are also explored. These results show that PLIMB, coupled with mass spectrometry, is an effective way to determine solvent access to hemoproteins. Furthermore, we show that many factors, including pH and the electrical parameters used to generate the plasma, have a significant influence on solvent accessibility.Keywords: plasma, hemoglobin, myoglobin, solvent access
Procedia PDF Downloads 180417 Effect of Mercerization on Coconut Fiber Surface Condition
Authors: Sphiwe Simelane, Daniel Madyira
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The use of natural fibers requires that they should be treated in preparation for their use in Natural Fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This paper reports on the effects of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment on the surface of coconut fibers. The fibers were subjected to 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% NaOH concentrations and soaked for 4 hours and thoroughly rinsed and allowed to dry in the open air for seven days, after which time they were dried in an oven for 30 minutes. Untreated and treated coconut fibers were observed under the Scanning Electron Microscope and it was noted that the surface structure of the fibers was modified differently by the different NaOH concentrations, and the resultant colour of the treated fibers got darker as the solution concentration increased, and the texture felt rougher to the touch as a result of the erosion of the fiber surface. Further, the increase in alkali concentration striped the surface of more constituents, thus exposing “pits” and other surface components rendering the surface rough.Keywords: coconut fiber, scanning electron microscope, sodium hydroxide, surface treatment
Procedia PDF Downloads 197416 Design and Biomechanical Analysis of a Transtibial Prosthesis for Cyclists of the Colombian Team Paralympic
Authors: Jhonnatan Eduardo Zamudio Palacios, Oscar Leonardo Mosquera Dussan, Daniel Guzman Perez, Daniel Alfonso Botero Rosas, Oscar Fabian Rubiano Espinosa, Jose Antonio Garcia Torres, Ivan Dario Chavarro, Ivan Ramiro Rodriguez Camacho, Jaime Orlando Rodriguez
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The training of cilsitas with some type of disability finds in the technological development an indispensable ally, generating every day advances to contribute to the quality of life allowing to maximize the capacities of the athletes. The performance of a cyclist depends on physiological and biomechanical factors, such as aerodynamic profile, bicycle measurements, connecting rod length, pedaling systems, type of competition, among others. This study particularly focuses on the description of the dynamic model of a transtibial prosthesis for Paralympic cyclists. To make the model, two points are chosen: in the radius centers of rotation of the plate and pinion of the track bicycle. The parametric scheme of the track bike represents a model of 6 degrees of freedom due to the displacement in X - Y of each of the reference points of the angles of the curve profile β, cant of the velodrome α and the angle of rotation of the connecting rod φ. The force exerted on the crank of the bicycle varies according to the angles of the curve profile β, the velodrome cant of α and the angle of rotation of the crank φ. The behavior is analyzed through the Matlab R2015a software. The average strength that a cyclist exerts on the cranks of a bicycle is 1,607.1 N, the Paralympic cyclist must perform a force on each crank about 803.6 N. Once the maximum force associated with the movement has been determined, it is continued to the dynamic modeling of the transtibial prosthesis that represents a model of 6 degrees of freedom with displacement in X - Y in relation to the angles of rotation of the hip π, knee γ and ankle λ. Subsequently, an analysis of the kinematic behavior of the prosthesis was carried out by means of SolidWorks 2017 and Matlab R2015a, which was used to model and analyze the variation of the hip angles π, knee γ and ankle of the λ prosthesis. The reaction forces generated in the prosthesis were performed on the ankle of the prosthesis, performing the summation of forces on the X and Y axes. The same analysis was then applied to the tibia of the prosthesis and the socket. The reaction force of the parts of the prosthesis varies according to the hip angles π, knee γ and ankle of the prosthesis λ. Therefore, it can be deduced that the maximum forces experienced by the ankle of the prosthesis is 933.6 N on the X axis and 2.160.5 N on the Y axis. Finally, it is calculated that the maximum forces experienced by the tibia and the socket of the transtibial prosthesis in high performance competitions is 3.266 N on the X axis and 1.357 N on the Y axis. In conclusion, it can be said that the performance of the cyclist depends on several physiological factors, linked to biomechanics of training. The influence of biomechanical factors such as aerodynamics, bicycle measurements, connecting rod length, or non-circular pedaling systems on the cyclist performance.Keywords: biomechanics, dynamic model, paralympic cyclist, transtibial prosthesis
Procedia PDF Downloads 327415 Metastatic Polypoid Nodular Melanoma Management During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Stefan Bradu, Daniel Siegel, Jameson Loyal, Andrea Leaf, Alana Kurtti, Usha Alapati, Jared Jagdeo
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Compared with all other variants of nodular melanoma, patients with polypoid nodular melanoma have the lowest 5-year survival rate. The pathophysiology and management of polypoid melanoma are scarcely reported in the literature. Although surgical excision is the cornerstone of melanoma management, treatment of polypoid melanoma is complicated by several negative prognostic factors, including early metastasis. This report demonstrates the successful treatment of a rapidly developing red nodular polypoid melanoma with metastasis using surgery and adjuvant nivolumab in a SARS-CoV-2-positive patient who delayed seeking care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to detailing the successful treatment approach, the immunosuppressive effects of SARS-2-CoV and its possible contribution to the rapid progression of polypoid melanoma are discussed. This case highlights the complex challenges of melanoma diagnosis and management during the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords: covid-19, dermatology, immunotherapy, melanoma, nivolumab
Procedia PDF Downloads 204414 Co-Hydrothermal Gasification of Microalgae Biomass and Solid Biofuel for Biogas Production
Authors: Daniel Fozer
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Limiting global warming to 1.5°C to the pre-industrial levels urges the application of efficient and sustainable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. Microalgae based biorefineries offer scalable solutions for the biofixation of CO2, where the produced biomass can be transformed into value added products by applying thermochemical processes. In this paper we report on the utilization of hydrochar as a blending component in hydrothermal gasification (HTG) process. The effects of blending ratio and hydrochar quality were investigated on the biogas yield and and composition. It is found that co-gasifying the hydrochar and the algae biomass can increase significantly the total gas yield and influence the biogas (H2, CH4, CO2, CO, C2H4, C2H6) composition. It is determined that the carbon conversion ratio, hydrogen and methane selectivity can be increased by influencing the fuel ratio of hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization. In conclusion, it is found that increasing the synergy between hydrothermal technologies result in elevated conversion efficiency.Keywords: biogas, CDR, Co-HTG, hydrochar, microalgae
Procedia PDF Downloads 138413 Analytical Investigation of Replaceable Links with Reduced Web Section for Link-to-Column Connections in Eccentrically Braced Frames
Authors: Daniel Y. Abebe, Sijeong Jeong, Jaehyouk Choi
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The use of eccentrically braced frame (EBF) is increasing day by day as EBF possesses high elastic stiffness, stable inelastic response under cyclic lateral loading, and excellent ductility and energy dissipation capacity. The ductility and energy dissipation capacity of EBF depends on the active link beams. Recently, there are two types EBFs; these are conventional EBFs and EBFs with replaceable links. The conventional EBF has a disadvantage during maintenance in post-earthquake. The concept of removable active link beam in EBF is developed to overcome the limitation of the conventional EBF in post-earthquake. In this study, a replaceable link with reduced web section is introduced and design equations are suggested. In addition, nonlinear finite element analysis was conducted in order to evaluate the proposed links.Keywords: EBFs, replaceable link, earthquake disaster, reduced section
Procedia PDF Downloads 321412 Improved Active Constellation Extension for the PAPR Reduction of FBMC-OQAM Signals
Authors: Mounira Laabidi, Rafik Zayani, Ridha Bouallegue, Daniel Roviras
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The Filter Bank multicarrier with Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (FBMC-OQAM) has been introduced to overcome the poor spectral characteristics and the waste in both bandwidth and energy caused by the use of the cyclic prefix. However, the FBMC-OQAM signals suffer from the high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) problem. Due to the overlapping structure of the FBMC-OQAM signals, directly applying the PAPR reduction schemes conceived for the OFDM one turns out to be ineffective. In this paper, we address the problem of PAPR reduction for FBMC-OQAM systems by suggesting a new scheme based on an improved version of Active Constellation Extension scheme (ACE) of OFDM. The proposed scheme, named Rolling Window ACE, takes into consideration the overlapping naturally emanating from the FBMC-OQAM signals.Keywords: ACE, FBMC, OQAM, OFDM, PAPR, rolling-window
Procedia PDF Downloads 540411 A Fast, Portable Computational Framework for Aerodynamic Simulations
Authors: Mehdi Ghommem, Daniel Garcia, Nathan Collier, Victor Calo
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We develop a fast, user-friendly implementation of a potential flow solver based on the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM). The computational framework uses the Python programming language which has easy integration with the scripts requiring computationally-expensive operations written in Fortran. The mixed-language approach enables high performance in terms of solution time and high flexibility in terms of easiness of code adaptation to different system configurations and applications. This computational tool is intended to predict the unsteady aerodynamic behavior of multiple moving bodies (e.g., flapping wings, rotating blades, suspension bridges...) subject to an incoming air. We simulate different aerodynamic problems to validate and illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the developed computational tool.Keywords: unsteady aerodynamics, numerical simulations, mixed-language approach, potential flow
Procedia PDF Downloads 281410 Risk Management of Water Derivatives: A New Commodity in The Market
Authors: Daniel Mokatsanyane, Johnny Jansen Van Rensburg
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This paper is a concise introduction of the risk management on the water derivatives market. Water, a new commodity in the market, is one of the most important commodity on earth. As important to life and planet as crops, metals, and energy, none of them matters without water. This paper presents a brief overview of water as a tradable commodity via a new first of its kind futures contract on the Nasdaq Veles California Water Index (NQH2O) derivative instrument, TheGeneralised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) statistical model will be the used to measure the water price volatility of the instrument and its performance since it’s been traded. describe the main products and illustrate their usage in risk management and also discuss key challenges with modeling and valuation of water as a traded commodity and finally discuss how water derivatives may be taken as an alternative asset investment class.Keywords: water derivatives, commodity market, nasdaq veles california water Index (NQH2O, water price, risk management
Procedia PDF Downloads 123409 A Construct to Perform in Situ Deformation Measurement of Material Extrusion-Fabricated Structures
Authors: Daniel Nelson, Valeria La Saponara
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Material extrusion is an additive manufacturing modality that continues to show great promise in the ability to create low-cost, highly intricate, and exceedingly useful structural elements. As more capable and versatile filament materials are devised, and the resolution of manufacturing systems continues to increase, the need to understand and predict manufacturing-induced warping will gain ever greater importance. The following study presents an in situ remote sensing and data analysis construct that allows for the in situ mapping and quantification of surface displacements induced by residual stresses on a specified test structure. This proof-of-concept experimental process shows that it is possible to provide designers and manufacturers with insight into the manufacturing parameters that lead to the manifestation of these deformations and a greater understanding of the behavior of these warping events over the course of the manufacturing process.Keywords: additive manufacturing, deformation, digital image correlation, fused filament fabrication, residual stress, warping
Procedia PDF Downloads 76408 Optical Flow Localisation and Appearance Mapping (OFLAAM) for Long-Term Navigation
Authors: Daniel Pastor, Hyo-Sang Shin
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This paper presents a novel method to use optical flow navigation for long-term navigation. Unlike standard SLAM approaches for augmented reality, OFLAAM is designed for Micro Air Vehicles (MAV). It uses an optical flow camera pointing downwards, an IMU and a monocular camera pointing frontwards. That configuration avoids the expensive mapping and tracking of the 3D features. It only maps these features in a vocabulary list by a localization module to tackle the loss of the navigation estimation. That module, based on the well-established algorithm DBoW2, will be also used to close the loop and allow long-term navigation in confined areas. That combination of high-speed optical flow navigation with a low rate localization algorithm allows fully autonomous navigation for MAV, at the same time it reduces the overall computational load. This framework is implemented in ROS (Robot Operating System) and tested attached to a laptop. A representative scenarios is used to analyse the performance of the system.Keywords: vision, UAV, navigation, SLAM
Procedia PDF Downloads 597407 Discriminant Analysis as a Function of Predictive Learning to Select Evolutionary Algorithms in Intelligent Transportation System
Authors: Jorge A. Ruiz-Vanoye, Ocotlán Díaz-Parra, Alejandro Fuentes-Penna, Daniel Vélez-Díaz, Edith Olaco García
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In this paper, we present the use of the discriminant analysis to select evolutionary algorithms that better solve instances of the vehicle routing problem with time windows. We use indicators as independent variables to obtain the classification criteria, and the best algorithm from the generic genetic algorithm (GA), random search (RS), steady-state genetic algorithm (SSGA), and sexual genetic algorithm (SXGA) as the dependent variable for the classification. The discriminant classification was trained with classic instances of the vehicle routing problem with time windows obtained from the Solomon benchmark. We obtained a classification of the discriminant analysis of 66.7%.Keywords: Intelligent Transportation Systems, data-mining techniques, evolutionary algorithms, discriminant analysis, machine learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 459406 Intended and Unintended Outcomes of Partnerships at the Local Level in Slovakia
Authors: Daniel Klimovský
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Slovakia belongs to the most fragmented countries if one looks at its local government structure. The Slovak central governments implemented both broad devolution and fiscal decentralization some decades ago. However, neither territorial consolidation nor size categorization of local competences and powers has been implemented yet. Taking this fact into account, it is clear that the local governments are challenged not only by their citizens as customers but also by effectiveness as well as efficiency of delivered services. The paper is focused on behavior of the local governments in Slovakia and their approaches towards other local partners, including other local governments. Analysis of set of interviews shows that inter-municipal cooperation is the most common local partnership in Slovakia, but due to diversity of the local governments, this kind of cooperation leads to both intended and unintended outcomes. While in many cases the local governments are more efficient as well as effective in delivery of local services thanks to inter-municipal cooperation, there are many cases where inter-municipal cooperation fails, and it brings rather questionable or even negative outcomes.Keywords: local governments, local partnerships, inter-municipal cooperation, delivery of local services
Procedia PDF Downloads 251405 Product Modularity, Collaboration and the Impact on Innovation Performance in Intra-Organizational R&D Networks
Authors: Daniel Martinez, Tim de Leeuw, Stefan Haefliger
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The challenges of managing a large and geographically dispersed R&D organization have been further increasing during the past years, concentrating on the leverage of a geo-graphically dispersed body of knowledge in an efficient and effective manner. In order to reduce complexity and improve performance, firms introduce product modularity as one key element for global R&D network teams to develop their products and projects in collaboration. However, empirical studies on the effects of product modularity on innovation performance are really scant. Furthermore, some researchers have suggested that product modularity promotes innovation performance, while others argue that it inhibits innovation performance. This research fills this gap by investigating the impact of product modularity on various dimensions of innovation performance, i.e. effectiveness and efficiency. By constructing the theoretical framework, this study suggests that that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between product modularity and innovation performance. Moreover, this research work suggests that the optimum of innovation performance efficiency will be at a higher level than innovation performance effectiveness at a given product modularity level.Keywords: modularity, innovation performance, networks, R&D, collaboration
Procedia PDF Downloads 512404 Discussion on Big Data and One of Its Early Training Application
Authors: Fulya Gokalp Yavuz, Mark Daniel Ward
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This study focuses on a contemporary and inevitable topic of Data Science and its exemplary application for early career building: Big Data and Leaving Learning Community (LLC). ‘Academia’ and ‘Industry’ have a common sense on the importance of Big Data. However, both of them are in a threat of missing the training on this interdisciplinary area. Some traditional teaching doctrines are far away being effective on Data Science. Practitioners needs some intuition and real-life examples how to apply new methods to data in size of terabytes. We simply explain the scope of Data Science training and exemplified its early stage application with LLC, which is a National Science Foundation (NSF) founded project under the supervision of Prof. Ward since 2014. Essentially, we aim to give some intuition for professors, researchers and practitioners to combine data science tools for comprehensive real-life examples with the guides of mentees’ feedback. As a result of discussing mentoring methods and computational challenges of Big Data, we intend to underline its potential with some more realization.Keywords: Big Data, computation, mentoring, training
Procedia PDF Downloads 350403 Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Literature Review
Authors: Daniel Azizyan, Marina Vardanyan, Astghik Dallakyan
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The objective of this literature review is to bring valuable and much-needed insight into Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among military personnel. As the issues regarding war veterans who suffer from PTSD become more and more widespread, the task of finding possible solutions that would provide alternative approaches to existing methods being used today becomes more relevant than ever. By analyzing the previous applications of VRET, this literature review covers the state of the research done currently on the topic, reviews the known information while identifying the main problems, and aims to use missed opportunities and find potential solutions. It provides the answers to the most relevant questions concerning VRET and leads to important conclusions in the hope of making the technology more practical, widespread, and effective.Keywords: military PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged exposure, virtual reality exposure therapy, VRE
Procedia PDF Downloads 104402 Antimicrobial Activity of Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles with Handroanthus Chrysanthus Flower Extract
Authors: Eduardo Padilla, Luis Daniel Rodriguez, Ivan Sanchez, Angelica Sofia Go
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The synthesis and application of metallic nanoparticles have increased in recent years. Biological methods go beyond the chemical and physical synthesis that is expensive and not friendly to the environment. Therefore, in this study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized biologically in an environmentally friendly way by Handroanthus chrysanthus flower aqueous extract (AgNPs) that contains phytochemicals capable of reducing silver nitrate. AgNPs were characterized visually by UV-visible spectroscopy and TEM. The antimicrobial activity of the AgNPs was tested by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains AgNPs showed potent antimicrobial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. MIC and MBC values were as low as 41.6, and 83.2 ug/mL using AgNPs biosynthesized by H. chrysanthus flower extract. This nanoparticle could be the basis for the formulation of disinfectants for use in the food and pharmaceutical industry.Keywords: antimicrobial, silver nanoparticles, flower extract, Handroanthus
Procedia PDF Downloads 98401 A Comparative Assessment Method For Map Alignment Techniques
Authors: Rema Daher, Theodor Chakhachiro, Daniel Asmar
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In the era of autonomous robot mapping, assessing the goodness of the generated maps is important, and is usually performed by aligning them to ground truth. Map alignment is difficult for two reasons: first, the query maps can be significantly distorted from ground truth, and second, establishing what constitutes ground truth for different settings is challenging. Most map alignment techniques to this date have addressed the first problem, while paying too little importance to the second. In this paper, we propose a benchmark dataset, which consists of synthetically transformed maps with their corresponding displacement fields. Furthermore, we propose a new system for comparison, where the displacement field of any map alignment technique can be computed and compared to the ground truth using statistical measures. The local information in displacement fields renders the evaluation system applicable to any alignment technique, whether it is linear or not. In our experiments, the proposed method was applied to different alignment methods from the literature, allowing for a comparative assessment between them all.Keywords: assessment methods, benchmark, image deformation, map alignment, robot mapping, robot motion
Procedia PDF Downloads 108400 Frame Camera and Event Camera in Stereo Pair for High-Resolution Sensing
Authors: Khen Cohen, Daniel Yankelevich, David Mendlovic, Dan Raviv
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We present a 3D stereo system for high-resolution sensing in both the spatial and the temporal domains by combining a frame-based camera and an event-based camera. We establish a method to merge both devices into one unite system and introduce a calibration process, followed by a correspondence technique and interpolation algorithm for 3D reconstruction. We further provide quantitative analysis about our system in terms of depth resolution and additional parameter analysis. We show experimentally how our system performs temporal super-resolution up to effectively 1ms and can detect fast-moving objects and human micro-movements that can be used for micro-expression analysis. We also demonstrate how our method can extract colored events for an event-based camera without any degradation in the spatial resolution, compared to a colored filter array.Keywords: DVS-CIS stereo vision, micro-movements, temporal super-resolution, 3D reconstruction
Procedia PDF Downloads 292399 Algorithm for Information Retrieval Optimization
Authors: Kehinde K. Agbele, Kehinde Daniel Aruleba, Eniafe F. Ayetiran
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When using Information Retrieval Systems (IRS), users often present search queries made of ad-hoc keywords. It is then up to the IRS to obtain a precise representation of the user’s information need and the context of the information. This paper investigates optimization of IRS to individual information needs in order of relevance. The study addressed development of algorithms that optimize the ranking of documents retrieved from IRS. This study discusses and describes a Document Ranking Optimization (DROPT) algorithm for information retrieval (IR) in an Internet-based or designated databases environment. Conversely, as the volume of information available online and in designated databases is growing continuously, ranking algorithms can play a major role in the context of search results. In this paper, a DROPT technique for documents retrieved from a corpus is developed with respect to document index keywords and the query vectors. This is based on calculating the weight (Keywords: information retrieval, document relevance, performance measures, personalization
Procedia PDF Downloads 236398 Unpacking Systemic Racism Within Educational Leadership
Authors: Henry Lee, Daniel Shiu
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Educational organizations are currently exploring ways to increase equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and this is now evident within the K-12 school system, universities, and teacher unions. These organizations have been creating and implementing new EDI specific policies. Their goal is to provide the framework and supports needed to establish EDI into the organizational culture. However, the implementation of EDI policies does not always lead to the intended outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore some factors regarding why the implementation of EDI policies within educational organizations can be problematic. This includes how Whiteness is replicated, promoted, and celebrated in educational leadership. How Whiteness and White supremacy are operationalized by BIPOC leaders within educational spaces, and how EDI specific training fails to understand the different training needed for both IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour) and non-IBPOC leaders. This paper also addresses the model minority myth and how this informs and guides IBPOC identity and leadership within a predominately White dominant leadership in education.Keywords: critical race theory, equity & diversity & inclusion, educational leadership, intersectionality
Procedia PDF Downloads 125397 Literary Translation Human vs Machine: An Essay about Online Translation
Authors: F. L. Bernardo, R. A. S. Zacarias
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The ways to translate are manifold since textual genres undergoing translations are diverse. In this essay, our goal is to give special attention to the literary genre and to the online translation tool Google Translate (GT), widely used either by nonprofessionals or by scholars, in order to show evidence of the indispensability of human wit in a good translation. Our study has its basis on a literary review of prominent authors, with emphasis on translation categories. Also highlighting the issue of polysemous literary translation, we aim to shed light on the translator’s craft and the fallible nature of online translation. To better illustrate these principles, the methodology consisted on performing a comparative analysis involving the original text Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe in English to its online translation given by GT and to a translation into Brazilian Portuguese performed by a human. We proceeded to identifying and analyzing the degrees of textual equivalence according to the following categories: volume, levels and order. The results have attested the unsuitability in a translation done by a computer connected to the World Wide Web.Keywords: Google Translator, human translation, literary translation, Moll Flanders
Procedia PDF Downloads 638396 Nutrition and Food Safety as Strategic Assets
Authors: Daniel C. S. Lim, W. Y. Tan
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The world is facing a growing food crisis. The concerns of food nutritional value, food safety and food security are becoming increasingly real. There is also a direct relationship to the risk of diseases, particularly chronic diseases, to the food we consume. So, there are increasing concerns about the modern day food ecosystem creating foods that can provide the nutritional components for organ function sustenance, as well as, taking a serious view on diet-related diseases. This paper addresses some of the above concerns and gives an overview of the current global situation relating to food nutrition and safety. The paper reviews nutritional aspects of food today compared to those of the last century, compares whole foods found in supermarkets versus those organically grown, as well as population behaviour towards food choices. It provides scientific insights into the effects of some of the global trends such as climate change and other changes environmental changes, and presents what individuals and corporations are doing to use the latest nutritional technologies as strategic assets. Finally, it briefly highlights some of the innovative solutions that are being applied to address several of the above concerns.Keywords: food crisis, food safety, global trends, nutritional aspects
Procedia PDF Downloads 379395 How Western Donors Allocate Official Development Assistance: New Evidence From a Natural Language Processing Approach
Authors: Daniel Benson, Yundan Gong, Hannah Kirk
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Advancement in national language processing techniques has led to increased data processing speeds, and reduced the need for cumbersome, manual data processing that is often required when processing data from multilateral organizations for specific purposes. As such, using named entity recognition (NER) modeling and the Organisation of Economically Developed Countries (OECD) Creditor Reporting System database, we present the first geotagged dataset of OECD donor Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects on a global, subnational basis. Our resulting data contains 52,086 ODA projects geocoded to subnational locations across 115 countries, worth a combined $87.9bn. This represents the first global, OECD donor ODA project database with geocoded projects. We use this new data to revisit old questions of how ‘well’ donors allocate ODA to the developing world. This understanding is imperative for policymakers seeking to improve ODA effectiveness.Keywords: international aid, geocoding, subnational data, natural language processing, machine learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 64