Search results for: traditional design

Authors: Sumita Srivastava

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Despite several measures taken by the Government of India, entrepreneurship is still not perceived as a viable career option by the young generation. Although the rate of startups has improved a little after the penetration of e portals as business platforms, still the numbers are not very significant. It is also important to note that entrepreneurial initiatives are mostly taken up by graduates of premier institutions of India like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). The scenario is not very satisfactory amongst the masses graduating from mainstream universities of the country. Indian youth at large are not attracted towards entrepreneurship as a career choice. The reason probably lies in the social fabric of the country and inappropriate education system which does not support the entrepreneurship at large amongst youth in the country. Education is critical to the development of an economy from the poverty level to the level of self-sustenance and development. The current curriculum in the majority of business schools in India prepares the average graduate to become employed by the available firms or business owners in society. For graduates in other streams, employment opportunities are very limited. The aim of this study was to identify and design entrepreneurship education contents to encourage undergraduates to pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice. This comprehensive study was conducted in multiple stages. Extensive research was conducted at each stage with an appropriate methodology. These stages of the project study were interconnected with each other, and each preceding stage provided inputs for the following stage of the study. In the first stage of the study, an empirical analysis was conducted to understand the current state of entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduates of Agra city. Various stakeholders were contacted at the stage, including students (n = 500), entrepreneurs (n = 20) and academicians and field experts (n = 10). At the second stage of the project study, a systems science technique, Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to identify the critical elements of entrepreneurship education in India based upon the findings of stage 1. The application of the Nominal Group Technique involved a workshop format; 15 domain experts participated in the workshop. Throughout the process, a democratic process was followed to avoid individual dominance and premature focusing on a single idea. The study obtained 63 responses from experts for effective entrepreneurship education in India. The responses were reduced to seven elements after a few thematic iterations. These elements were then segregated into content (knowledge, skills and attitude) and learning interaction on the basis of experts’ responses. After identifying critical elements of entrepreneurship education in the previous stage, the course was designed and validated at stage 3 of the project. Scientific methods were used at this stage to validate the curriculum contents and training interventions experimentally. The educational and training interventions designed through this study would not only help in developing entrepreneurial intentions but also creating skills relevant to the local entrepreneurial opportunities in the vicinity.

Keywords: curriculum design, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneuship education, nominal group technique

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Authors: Samart Rungjarean, Benchalak Muangmeesri, Dechrit Maneetham

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Monks' and Novices' chimes may have some restrictions, such as during the rain when a structure or location chimes or at a certain period. Alternately, certain temple bells may be found atop a tall, difficult-to-reach bell tower. As a result, the concept of designing a brass bell for use with a mobile phone over great distances was proposed. The Internet of Things (IoT) system will be used to regulate the bell by testing each of the three beatings with a wooden head. A stone-beating head and a steel beater. The sound resonates nicely, with the distance and rhythm of the hit contributing to this. An ESP8266 microcontroller is used by the control system to manage its operations and will communicate with the pneumatic system to convey a signal. Additionally, a mobile phone will be used to operate the entire system. In order to precisely direct and regulate the rhythm, There is a resonance of roughly 50 dB for this test, and the operating distance can be adjusted. Timing and accuracy were both good.

Keywords: automatic ring-bell, microcontroller, ring-bell, iot

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Authors: Digdem M. Siyez, Bariscan Ozturk, Erol Esen, Ender Siyez, Yelda Kagnici, Bahar Baran

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Infertility is a reproductive disease identified with the absence of pregnancy after regular unprotected sexual intercourse that has been lasting for 12 months or more. Some of the factors that cause infertility, which has been considered as a social and societal issue since the first days of the humankind, are preventable. These are veneral diseases, age, the frequency of the intercourse and its timing, drug use, bodyweight, environmental and professional conditions. Having actual information about the reproductive health is essential to take protective and preventive measures, and it is accepted as the most effective way to reduce the rate of infertility. However, during the literature review, it has been observed that there are so few studies that focus on the prevention of the infertility. The aim of this study is to develop a psycho-education program to reduce infertility among university students and also to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. It is believed that this program will increase the information level about infertility among the university students, help them to adopt healthy attitudes, develop life skills, create awareness about the risk factors and also contribute to the literature. Throughout the study, first, the contents of sexual/reproductive health programs developed for university students were examined by the researches. Besides, “Views about Reproductive Health Psycho-education Program Survey” was developed and applied to 10221 university students from 21 universities. In accordance with the literature and the university students’ views about reproductive health psycho-education program consisting of 9 sessions each of which lasts for 90 minutes was developed. The pilot program was carried out with 16 volunteer undergraduate students attending to a state university. During the evaluation of the pilot study, at the end of each session “Session Evaluation Form” and at the end of the entire program “Program Evaluation Form” were administered to the participants. Besides, one week after the end of the program, a focus group with half of the group, and individual interviews with the rest were conducted. Based on the evaluations, it was determined that the session duration is enough, the teaching methods meet the expectation, the techniques applied are appropriate and clear, and the materials are adequate. Also, an extra session was added to psycho-education program based on the feedbacks of the participants. In order to evaluate program’s effectiveness, Solomon control group design will be used. According to this design, the research has 2 experiment groups and 2 control groups. The participants who voluntarily participated in the research after the announcement of the psycho-education program were divided into experiment and control groups. In the experiment 1 and control 1 groups, “Personal Information Test”, “Infertility Information Test” and “Infertility Attitude Scale”, “Self Identification Inventory” and “Melbourne Decision Scale” were administered as a preliminary test. Currently, at the present stage, psycho-education still continues. After this 10-week program, the same tests will be administered again as the post-tests. The decision upon which statistical method will be applied in the analysis will be made afterwards according to whether the data meets the presuppositions or not.

Keywords: infertility, prevention, psycho-education, reproductive health

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Authors: Mehmet Ali Avcı, Medine Çopur Doğrusöz

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This study has been carried out in the Selcuk University, Department of Fields Crops Research and Application Greenhouse. 4 different grass genotypes (1 Lolium perenne L., 1 Poa trivialis L., 1 Festuca ovina L., and 1 Festuca arundinacea Scheb.) have been used in the application. It has been done with four repetition according to design of random parcel test. The research have been started with the implementation of 3 clones to each pot of each kind on 07.12.2009. It has been processed normally. When the plants have filled % 80 of the pot and have grown to the height of 7-10 cm, 5 cm has cut. After the first cutting, there have been applied 4 cutting frequency within the periods of 5, 10, 15, 20 days. Number of tillers, the degree of filling the bottom, the height of plant, the length of leaf and the width of the leaf have been measured. This procedure have been repeated in once a-five-day-periods, once a-ten-day-periods, once a-fifteen-day-periods, once a-twenty-day-periods, the data have been taken, and it has completed in 60 days. All the plants in the pots have been reaped from the 5cm height on 16.08.2010. The first measures have been taken for each quality. It is aimed to set the effects of different cutting frequency on the some grass kinds’ some plant characteristics.

Keywords: cutting frequency, Festuca, Lolium, Poa

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Authors: Syed Masood Hussain

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An effective control method, including system-level control and pulse width modulation for quasi-Z-source cascade multilevel inverter (qZS-CMI) based grid-tie photovoltaic (PV) power system is proposed. The system-level control achieves the grid-tie current injection, independent maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for separate PV panels, and dc-link voltage balance for all quasi-Z-source H-bridge inverter (qZS-HBI) modules. A recent upsurge in the study of photovoltaic (PV) power generation emerges, since they directly convert the solar radiation into electric power without hampering the environment. However, the stochastic fluctuation of solar power is inconsistent with the desired stable power injected to the grid, owing to variations of solar irradiation and temperature. To fully exploit the solar energy, extracting the PV panels’ maximum power and feeding them into grids at unity power factor become the most important. The contributions have been made by the cascade multilevel inverter (CMI). Nevertheless, the H-bridge inverter (HBI) module lacks boost function so that the inverter KVA rating requirement has to be increased twice with a PV voltage range of 1:2; and the different PV panel output voltages result in imbalanced dc-link voltages. However, each HBI module is a two-stage inverter, and many extra dc–dc converters not only increase the complexity of the power circuit and control and the system cost, but also decrease the efficiency. Recently, the Z-source/quasi-Z-source cascade multilevel inverter (ZS/qZS-CMI)-based PV systems were proposed. They possess the advantages of both traditional CMI and Z-source topologies. In order to properly operate the ZS/qZS-CMI, the power injection, independent control of dc-link voltages, and the pulse width modulation (PWM) are necessary. The main contributions of this paper include: 1) a novel multilevel space vector modulation (SVM) technique for the single phase qZS-CMI is proposed, which is implemented without additional resources; 2) a grid-connected control for the qZS-CMI based PV system is proposed, where the all PV panel voltage references from their independent MPPTs are used to control the grid-tie current; the dual-loop dc-link peak voltage control.

Keywords: Quzi-Z source inverter, Photo voltaic power system, space vector modulation, cascade multilevel inverter

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Authors: Bubaker F. Shareia, Almuetaz R. Boubakr

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The aim of this paper is to show how Libya’s legal, economic, political, social, and cultural systems have shaped Libyan development. This will provide a background to develop an understanding of the current role of the accounting information system in Libya and the challenges facing the design of the aeronautical information system to meet the development needs of Libya. Our knowledge of the unified economic operating systems of the world paves the way for the economic development of every developing country. In order to achieve this understanding, every developing country should be provided with a high-efficiency communications system in order to be able to interact globally. From the point of view of the theory of globalization, Libya's understanding of its socio-economic and political systems is vital in order to be able to adopt and apply accounting techniques that will assist in the economic development of Libya.

Keywords: accounting, economic development, globalisation theory, information system

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Authors: Houmame Benbouali

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The risks, in general, exist in any project; one can hardly carry out a project without taking risks. The hydraulic works are rather complex projects in their design, realization and exploitation, and are often subjected at the multiple risks being able to influence with their good performance, and can have an negative impact on their environment. The present study was carried out to quote the impacts caused by purification plant STEP Chlef on the environment, it aims has studies the environmental impacts during construction and when designing this STEP, it is divided into two parts: The first part results from a research task bibliographer which contain three chapters (-cleansing of water worn-general information on water worn-proceed of purification of waste water). The second part is an experimental part which is divided into four chapters (detailed state initial-description of the station of purification-evaluation of the impacts of the project analyzes measurements and recommendations).

Keywords: treatment plant, waste water, waste water treatment, environmental impact

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Authors: Mustafa Mutahari, Nao Sugiki, Kojiro Matsuo

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The four decades of war, lack of job opportunities, poverty, lack of services, and natural disasters in different provinces of Afghanistan have contributed to a rapid increase in the population of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Population census has not been conducted since 1979, the first and last population census in Afghanistan. However, according to population estimations by Afghan authorities, the population of Kabul has been estimated at more than 4 million people, whereas the city was designed for two million people. Although the major transport mode of Kabul residents is public transport, responsible authorities within the country failed to supply the required means of transportation systems for the city. Besides, informal resettlement, lack of intersection control devices, presence of illegal vendors on streets, presence of illegal and unstandardized on-street parking and bus stops, driver`s unprofessional behavior, weak traffic law enforcement, and blocked roads and sidewalks have contributed to the extreme traffic congestion of Kabul. In 2018, the government of Afghanistan approved the Kabul city Urban Design Framework (KUDF), a vision towards the future of Kabul, which provides strategies and design guidance at different scales to direct urban development. Considering traffic congestion of the city and its budget limitations, the KUDF proposes a BRT route network with seven lines to reduce the traffic congestion, and it is said to facilitate more than 50% of Kabul population to benefit from this service. Based on the KUDF, it is planned to increase the BRT mode share from 0% to 17% and later to 30% in medium and long-term planning scenarios, respectively. Therefore, a detailed research study is needed to evaluate the proposed system before the implementation stage starts. The integrated land-use transport model is an effective tool to evaluate the Kabul BRT because of its future assessment capabilities that take into account the interaction between land use and transportation. This research aims to analyze and evaluate the proposed BRT route network with the application of an integrated land-use and transportation model. The research estimates the population distribution and travel behavior of Kabul within small boundary scales. The actual road network and land-use detailed data of the city are used to perform the analysis. The BRT corridors are evaluated not only considering its impacts on the spatial interactions in the city`s transportation system but also on the spatial developments. Therefore, the BRT are evaluated with the scenarios of improving the Kabul transportation system based on the distribution of land-use or spatial developments, planned development typology and population distribution of the city. The impacts of the new improved transport system on the BRT network are analyzed and the BRT network is evaluated accordingly. In addition, the research also focuses on the spatial accessibility of BRT stops, corridors, and BRT line beneficiaries, and each BRT stop and corridor are evaluated in terms of both access and geographic coverage, as well.

Keywords: accessibility, BRT, integrated land-use and transport model, travel behavior, spatial development

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Authors: Juliette Harper, Yu Yang

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Biofuels have gained significant attention recently due to the new regulations and agreements regarding fossil fuels and greenhouse gases being made by countries around the globe. One of the most common types of biofuels is biodiesel, primarily made via the transesterification reaction. We model this nonlinear process in MATLAB using the standard kinetic equations. Then, a nonlinear Model predictive control (NMPC) was developed to regulate this process due to its capability to handle process constraints. The feeding flow uncertainty and kinetic disturbances are further incorporated in the model to capture the real-world operating conditions. The simulation results will show that the proposed NMPC can guarantee the final composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) above the target threshold with a high chance by adjusting the process temperature and flowrate. This research will allow further understanding of NMPC under uncertainties and how to design the computational strategy for larger process with more variables.

Keywords: NMPC, biodiesel, uncertainties, nonlinear, MATLAB

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Authors: G. T. Ntuli

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This paper critically examines the gender dynamics of a Zulu girl child in her religio-cultural context from the postcolonial feminist perspective. As one of the former colonized ethnic groups in the South African context, the Zulu tribe used to have particular and contextual religio-cultural ways of a girl’s upbringing. This included traditional and cultural norms that any member of the community could not infringe without serious repercussions from the community members. However, the postcolonial social position of a girl child within this community became ambiguous and unpredictable due to colonial changes that enhanced gender dynamics that propelled tribal communities into deeper patriarchal structures. In the empirical study conducted within the Zulu context, which investigated the retrieval of ubuntombi (virginity) as a Zulu cultural heritage, identity and sex education as a path to adulthood, it was found that a Zulu girl child’s social position is geared towards double oppression due to gender dynamics that she experiences in her lifetime. It is these gender dynamics that are examined in this paper from the postcolonial feminist perspective. These gender dynamics are at play from the birth of a girl child, developmental stage to puberty and marriage rituals. These rituals and religio-cultural practices are meant to shape and mold a ‘good woman’ in the Zulu cultural context but social gender inequality that elevates males over females propel women social status into life denying peripheral positions. Consequently, in the place of a ‘good woman’ in the communal view, an oppressed and dehumanized woman becomes the outcome of such gender dynamics, more often treated with contempt, despised and violated in many demeaning ways. These do not only leave women economically and socio-politically impoverished, but also having to face violence of all kinds such as domestic, emotional, sexual and gender-based violence that are increasingly becoming a scourge in some of the sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa. It is for this reason that this paper becomes significant, not only within the Zulu context where the research was conducted, but also in all the countries that practice and promote patriarchal tendencies in the name of religio-cultural practices. There is a need for a different outlook as to what it means to be a ‘good woman’ in the cultural context, because if the goodness of a woman is determined by life denying cultural practices, such practices need to be deconstructed and discarded.

Keywords: feminist, gender dynamics, postcolonial, religio-cultural, Zulu girl child

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Authors: Mamoun S. Ideis, Zein Salah

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Virtual Rehabilitation (VR) refers to using Virtual Reality’s hardware and simulations as means of exercising tools to rehabilitate patients in need. These patients will undergo their treatment exercises while playing different computer games, which helps achieve greater motivation for patients undergoing their therapeutic exercises. Virtual Rehabilitation systems adopt computer games as part of the treatment therapy. In this paper, we present a preliminary proposal to using adaptive computer games in Virtual Rehabilitation therapy. We also present some tips in designing those adaptive computer games by using different machine learning algorithms in order to create a personalized experience for each patient, which in turn, increases the potential benefits of the treatment that each patient receives. Furthermore, we propose a method of comparing the results of treatment using the adaptive computer games with the results of using static and classical computer games.

Keywords: virtual rehabilitation, physiotherapy, adaptive computer games, post-stroke, game design

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Authors: Jean Ross

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Rural nursing is not an identified professional identity in the UK, unlike the USA, Canada, and Australia which recognizes rural nursing as a specialty scope of practice. In New Zealand rural nursing is an underrepresented aspect of nursing practice, is misunderstood and does not fit easily within the wider nursing profession and policies governing practice. This study situated within the New Zealand context adds to the international studies’ aligned with rural nursing practice. The study addresses a gap in the literature by striving to identify and strengthen the awareness of and increase rural nurses’ understanding and articulation of their changing and adapting identity and furthermore an opportunity to appreciate their contribution to the delivery of rural health care. In addition, this study adds to the growing global rural nursing knowledge and theoretical base. This research is a continuation of the author’s academic involvement and ongoing relationships with the rural nursing sector, national policy analysts and health care planners since the 1990s. These relationships have led to awareness, that despite rural nurses’ efforts to explain the particular nuances which make up their practice, there has been little recognition by profession to establish rural nursing as a specialty. The research explored why nurses’ who practiced in the rural Otago region of New Zealand, between the 1990s and early 2000s moved away from the traditional identity as a district, practice or public health nurse and looked towards a more appropriate identity which reflected their emerging practice. This qualitative research situated within the interpretive paradigm embeds this retrospective study within the discipline of nursing and engages with the concepts of place and governmentality. National key informant and Otago regional rural nurse interviews generated data and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Stemming from the analyses, an analytical diagrammatic matrix was developed demonstrating rural nursing as a ‘place–based practice’ governed both from within and beyond location presenting how the nurse aligns the self in the rural community as a meaningful provider of health care. Promoting this matrix may encourage a focal discussion point within the international spectrum of nursing and likewise between rural and non-rural nurses which it is hoped will generate further debate in relation to the different nuances aligned with rural nursing practice. Further, insights from this paper may capture key aspects and issues related to identity formation in respect to rural nurses, from the UK, New Zealand, Canada, USA, and Australia.

Keywords: matrix, place, nursing, rural

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Authors: A. Aleksic-Veljkovic, K. Herodek, M. Bratic, M. Mitic

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between variables of dynamic balance and countermovement jump in young, female gymnasts. A single-group design was used. Forty-seven young, female gymnasts (Mean±SD; age: 8-12 years, height: 42.88±10.38 cm, mass: 35.59±8.15 kg; body mass index: 17.18±1.62 kg/m2; training hours per week: 15-18 h/week) performed measurements of dynamic balance and countermovement jump with and without arm swing. Significant, but small to medium associations were observed between variables of balance and height of the jump in both protocols of the countermovement jump ranging from r = +0.313 to +0.426. No significant associations were observed between variables of dynamic balance and relative power and peak power of countermovement jump with or without arm swings. The data indicate that dynamic balance and leg power imply that balance and power are independent of each other and may have to be tested and trained complementarily in young gymnasts.

Keywords: artistic gymnastics, countermovement jump, jump height, testing

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Authors: Kadri-Ann Kertsmik, Martin Talvik, Kimmo Lylykangas, Simo Ilomets, Targo Kalamees

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This study compares the building carbon footprint (CF) values for a case study of a private house located in a cold climate, using the Level(s) methodology. It provides a framework for measuring the environmental performance of buildings throughout their life cycle, taking into account various factors. The study presents the results of the three scenarios, comparing their carbon emissions and highlighting the benefits of circular material usage. The construction process was thoroughly documented, and all materials and components (including minuscule mechanical fasteners, each meter of cable, a kilogram of mortar, and the component of HVAC systems, among other things) delivered to the construction site were noted. Transportation distances of each delivery, the fuel consumption of construction machines, and electricity consumption for temporary heating and electrical tools were also monitored. Using the detailed data on material and energy resources, the CF was calculated for two scenarios: one where circular material usage was applied and another where virgin materials were used instead of reused ones. The results were compared with the CF calculated based on the building permit design model using the Level(s) methodology. To study the range of possible results in the early stage of CF assessment, the same building permit design was given to several experts. Results showed that embodied carbon values for a built scenario were significantly lower than the values predicted by the building permit stage as a result of more precise material quantities, as the calculation methodology is designed to overestimate the CF. Moreover, designers made an effort to reduce the building's CF by reusing certain materials such as ceramic tiles, lightweight concrete blocks, and timber during the construction process. However, in a cold climate context where operational energy (B6) continues to dominate, the total building CF value changes between the three scenarios were less significant. The calculation for the building permit project was performed by several experts, and CF results were in the same range. It alludes that, for the first estimation of preliminary building CF, using average values proves to be an appropriate method for the Estonian national carbon footprint estimation phase during building permit application. The study also identified several opportunities for reducing the carbon footprint of the building, such as reusing materials from other construction sites, preferring local material producers, and reducing wastage on site. The findings suggest that using circular materials can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Overall, the study highlights the importance of using a comprehensive approach to measure the environmental performance of buildings, taking into account both the project and the actually built house. It also emphasises the need for ongoing monitoring for designing the building and construction site waste. The study also gives some examples of how to enable future circularity of building components and materials, e.g., building in layers, using wood as untreated, etc.

Keywords: carbon footprint, circular economy, sustainable construction, level(s) methodology

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Authors: David W. Taylor, Fernando Lourenço, Carolyn Branston, Paul Tucker

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There are an increasing number of students at Universities in the United Kingdom engaging in entrepreneurship role-play to explore business start-up as a career alternative to employment. These role-play activities have been shown to have a positive influence on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Universities also play a role in developing graduates’ awareness of social responsibility. However, social responsibility is often missing from these entrepreneurship role-plays. It is important that these role-play activities include the development of values that support social responsibility, in-line with those running hybrid, humane and sustainable enterprises, and not simply focus on profit. The Young Enterprise (YE) Start-Up programme is an example of a role-play activity that is gaining in popularity amongst United Kingdom Universities seeking ways to give students insight into a business start-up. A Post-92 University in the North-West of England has adapted the traditional YE Directorship roles (e.g., Marketing Director, Sales Director) by including a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Director in all of the team-based YE Start-Up businesses. The aim for introducing this Directorship was to observe if such a role would help create a more socially responsible value-system within each company and in turn shape business decisions. This paper investigates role-play as a tool to help enterprise educators develop socially responsible attitudes and values in nascent entrepreneurs. A mixed qualitative methodology approach has been used, which includes interviews, role-play, and reflection, to help students develop positive value characteristics through the exploration of unethical and selfish behaviors. The initial findings indicate that role-play helped CSR Directors learn and gain insights into the importance of corporate social responsibility, influenced the values and actions of their YE Start-Ups, and increased the likelihood that if the participants were to launch a business post-graduation, that the intent would be for the business to be socially responsible. These findings help inform educators on how to develop socially responsible nascent entrepreneurs within a traditionally profit orientated business model.

Keywords: student entrepreneurship, young enterprise, social responsibility, role-play, values

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Authors: Vakhtang Nozadze, Luiza Arutinova, Khatuna Martskvishvili

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The social empowerment of most needed individuals is a challenging issue, especially for developing countries. The current study explores the effects of visual impairment on individuals’ satisfaction with different aspects of life (i.e. education, job, income, family) and coping strategies. Furthermore, the difference between groups according to health status is revealed. Other demographic variables (education, employment, and marital status) is also considered. The cross-sectional design and self-reported questionnaires were adopted. Seventy-two visually impaired males and females (age range 13-66) and seventy healthy individuals participated in the study. The results reveal the importance of health status on the accessibility of social amenities, individuals’ satisfaction with life, and a diversity of coping strategies, irrespective of the age. The research has an important implication for social integration research and policy.

Keywords: coping strategies, life satisfaction, social integration, visual impairment

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Authors: Aydin Teymourifar, Gurkan Ozturk

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In this paper, a hybrid distributed algorithm has been suggested for multi-objective dynamic flexible job shop scheduling problem. The proposed algorithm is high level, in which several algorithms search the space on different machines simultaneously also it is a hybrid algorithm that takes advantages of the artificial intelligence, evolutionary and optimization methods. Distribution is done at different levels and new approaches are used for design of the algorithm. Apache spark and Hadoop frameworks have been used for the distribution of the algorithm. The Pareto optimality approach is used for solving the multi-objective benchmarks. The suggested algorithm that is able to solve large-size problems in short times has been compared with the successful algorithms of the literature. The results prove high speed and efficiency of the algorithm.

Keywords: distributed algorithms, apache-spark, Hadoop, flexible dynamic job shop scheduling, multi-objective optimization

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Authors: Badriah Alayidi, Emad Alyahya

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Background: Most people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) report worsening balance as the condition progresses. Poor balance control is also well known to be a significant risk factor for both falling and fear of falling. The increased risk of falls with disease progression thus makes balance control an essential target of gait rehabilitation amongst people with MS. Intervention programs have developed various methods to improve balance control, and accumulating evidence suggests that exercise programs may help people with MS improve their balance. Among these methods, virtual reality (VR) is growing in popularity as a balance-training technique owing to its potential benefits, including better compliance and greater user happiness. However, it is not clear if a VR environment will induce different balance control mechanisms in MS as compared to healthy individuals or traditional environments. Therefore, this study aims to examine how individuals with MS control their balance in a VR setting. Methodology: The proposed study takes an empirical approach to estimate and determine the role of balance response in persons with MS using a VR environment. It will use primary data collected through patient observations, physiological and biomechanical evaluation of balance, and data analysis. Results: The preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that there was variability in terms of the outcome assessing balance response in people with MS. The preliminary results of these assessments have the potential to provide essential indicators of the progression of MS and contribute to the individualization of treatment and evaluation of the interventions’ effectiveness. The literature describes patients who have had the opportunity to experiment in VR settings and then used what they have learned in the real world, suggesting that this VR setting could be more appealing than conditional settings. The findings of the proposed study will be beneficial in estimating and determining the effect of VR on balance control in persons with MS. In previous studies, VR was shown to be an interesting approach to neurological rehabilitation, but more data are needed to support this approach in MS. Conclusions: The proposed study enables an assessment of balance and evaluations of a variety of physiological implications related to neural activity as well as biomechanical implications related to movement analysis.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, virtual reality, postural control, balance

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Authors: Chakkrit Poonpakdee, Jing-Hua Tzen, Ya-Zhen Huang, Yao-Tung Lin

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Potassium (K) is a known macro nutrient and essential element for plant growth. Single leaching and modified sequential extraction schemes have been developed to estimate the relative phase associations of soil samples. The sequential extraction process is a step in analyzing the partitioning of metals affected by environmental conditions, but it is not a tool for estimation of K bioavailability. While, traditional single leaching method has been used to classify K speciation for a long time, it depend on its availability to the plants and use for potash fertilizer recommendation rate. Clay mineral in soil is a factor for controlling soil fertility. The change of the micro-structure of clay minerals during various environment (i.e. swelling or shrinking) is characterized using Transmission X-Ray Microscopy (TXM). The objective of this study are to 1) compare the distribution of K speciation between single leaching and sequential extraction process 2) determined clay particle flocculation structure before/after suspension with K+ using TXM. Four tropical soil samples: farming without K fertilizer (10 years), long term applied K fertilizer (10 years; 168-240 kg K2O ha-1 year-1), red soil (450-500 kg K2O ha-1 year-1) and forest soil were selected. The results showed that the amount of K speciation by single leaching method were high in mineral K, HNO3 K, Non-exchangeable K, NH4OAc K, exchangeable K and water soluble K respectively. Sequential extraction process indicated that most K speciations in soil were associated with residual, organic matter, Fe or Mn oxide and exchangeable fractions and K associate fraction with carbonate was not detected in tropical soil samples. In farming long term applied K fertilizer and red soil were higher exchangeable K than farming long term without K fertilizer and forest soil. The results indicated that one way to increase the available K (water soluble K and exchangeable K) should apply K fertilizer and organic fertilizer for providing available K. The two-dimension of TXM image of clay particles suspension with K+ shows that the aggregation structure of clay mineral closed-void cellular networks. The porous cellular structure of soil aggregates in 1 M KCl solution had large and very larger empty voids than in 0.025 M KCl and deionized water respectively. TXM nanotomography is a new technique can be useful in the field as a tool for better understanding of clay mineral micro-structure.

Keywords: potassium, sequential extraction process, clay mineral, TXM

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Authors: T. Spiegel, J. Siegmann, C. F. Durach

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Challenges resulting from an international and dynamic business environment are increasingly being passed on from manufacturing companies to external service providers. Especially providers of complex, customer-specific industry services have to cope with continuously changing requirements. This is particularly true for contract logistics service providers. They are forced to develop efficient and highly flexible structures and strategies to meet their customer’s needs. One core element they have to focus on is the reorganization of their service development and sales process. Based on an action research approach, this study develops and tests a concept to streamline tender management for contract logistics service providers. The concept of modularized service architecture is deployed in order to derive a practice-oriented approach for the modularization of complex service portfolios and the design of customized quotes. These findings are evaluated regarding their applicability in other service sectors and practical recommendations are given.

Keywords: contract logistics, modularization, service development, tender management

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Authors: Eleni Maistrou, D. Kosmopoulos, Carolina Moretti, Amalia Konidi, Katerina Boulougoura

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InterArch is an ongoing research project that has been running since September 2020. It aims to propose the design of a site-based digital application for archaeological sites and outdoor guided tours, supporting virtual and augmented reality technology. The research project is co‐financed by the European Union and Greek national funds, through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH - CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: Τ2ΕΔΚ-01659). It involves mutual collaboration between academic and cultural institutions and the contribution of an IT applications development company. The research will be completed by July 2023 and will run as a pilot project for the city of Ancient Messene, a place of outstanding natural beauty in the west of Peloponnese, which is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. The applied research project integrates an interactive approach to the natural environment, aiming at a manifold sensory experience. It combines the physical space of the archaeological site with the digital space of archaeological and cultural data while at the same time, it embraces storytelling processes by engaging an interdisciplinary approach that familiarizes the user with multiple semantic interpretations. The mingling of the real-world environment with its digital and cultural components by using augmented reality techniques could potentially transform the visit on-site into an immersive multimodal sensory experience. To this purpose, an extensive spatial analysis along with a detailed evaluation of the existing digital and non-digital archives is proposed in our project, intending to correlate natural landscape morphology (including archaeological material remains and environmental characteristics) with the extensive historical records and cultural digital data. On-site research was carried out, during which visitors’ itineraries were monitored and tracked throughout the archaeological visit using GPS locators. The results provide our project with useful insight concerning the way visitors engage and interact with their surroundings, depending on the sequence of their itineraries and the duration of stay at each location. InterArch aims to propose the design of a site-based digital application for archaeological sites and outdoor guided tours, supporting virtual and augmented reality technology. Extensive spatial analysis, along with a detailed evaluation of the existing digital and non-digital archives, is used in our project, intending to correlate natural landscape morphology with the extensive historical records and cultural digital data. The results of the on-site research provide our project with useful insight concerning the way visitors engage and interact with their surroundings, depending on the sequence of their itineraries and the duration of stay at each location.

Keywords: archaeological site, digital space, semantic interpretations, cultural heritage

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Authors: Mona Solvoll, Ragnhild Kr. Olsen

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Background and significance of the study: Newspapers are going through radical changes with increased competition, eroding readerships and declining advertising resulting in plummeting overall revenues. This has lead to a quest for new business models, focusing on monetizing content. This research paper investigates both how local online newspapers have introduced user payment and how the audience has received these changes. Given the role of local media in keeping their communities informed and those in power accountable, their potential impact on civic engagement and cultural integration in local communities, the business model innovations of local media deserves far more research interest. Empirically, the findings are interesting for local journalists, local media managers as well as local advertisers. Basic methodologies: The study is based on interviews with commercial leaders in 20 Norwegian local newspapers in addition to a national survey data from 1600 respondents among local media users. The interviews were conducted in the second half of 2015, while the survey was conducted in September 2016. Theoretically, the study draws on the business model framework. Findings: The analysis indicates that paywalls aim more at reducing digital cannibalisation of print revenue than about creating new digital income. The newspapers are mostly concerned with retaining “old” print subscribers and transform them into digital subscribers. However, this strategy may come at a high price for newspapers if their defensive print strategy drives away younger digital readership and hamper their recruitment potential for new audiences as some previous studies have indicated. Analysis of young reader news habits indicates that attracting the younger audience to traditional local news providers is particularly challenging and that they are more prone to seek alternative news sources than the older audience is. Conclusion: The paywall strategy applied by the local newspapers may be well fitted to stabilise print subscription figures and facilitate more tailored and better services for already existing customers, but far less suited for attracting new ones. The paywall is a short-sighted strategy, which drives away younger readers and paves the road for substitute offerings, particularly Facebook.

Keywords: business model, newspapers, paywall, user payment

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Authors: P. Sawitri, S. Cdr. Sittha, T. Kritsana

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Flow forming is widely used in many industries, especially in defence technology industries. Pressure vessels requirements are high precision, light weight, seamless and optimum strength. For large pressure vessels, flow forming by 3 rollers machine were used. In case of long range rocket motor case flow forming and welding of pressure vessels have been used for manufacturing. Due to complication of welding process, researchers had developed 4 meters length pressure vessels without weldment by 4 rollers flow forming machine. Design and preparation of preform work pieces are performed. The optimization of flow forming parameter such as feed rate, spindle speed and depth of cut will be discussed. The experimental result shown relation of flow forming parameters to quality of flow formed tube and prototype pressure vessels have been made.

Keywords: flow forming, pressure vessel, four rollers, feed rate, spindle speed, cold work

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Jiří Kugl

Abstract:

Typology and specific opportunities of brownfield revitalization are already largely described. Challenges and opportunities that brownfields represent have been adequately studied and presented, as well as specific ways in which these areas can be used or how they are used abroad. In other words, the questions why (revitalize brownfields) and what (we should do with them) are satisfactorily answered, but the question how (we can work with them) is not. This work will focus on answering this question, which will deal with tools that enable the revitalization and rehabilitation projects in the area. Tools can be divided, for example in terms of spatial planning and urban design, from an environmental perspective, from the perspective of cultural heritage protection and from the perspective of investment opportunities. The result is that the issue of brownfields is handled by numerous institutions and instruments. The aim of this paper is to identify, classify and analyze these instruments. Paper will study instruments from other countries with long-term experience with this issue (eg. France, Great Britain, USA, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic) and analyse their contribution and the feasibility of their implementation in other countries.

Keywords: brownfields, revitalization, rehabilitation, tools, urban planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Ahmed Kayad Abdourazak, Abderafi Souad, Zejli Driss, Idriss Abdoulkader Ibrahim

Abstract:

In this paper Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used to predict the solar irradiation in Djibouti for the first Time that is useful to the integration of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and sites selections for new or future solar plants as part of solar energy development. An ANN algorithm was developed to establish a forward/reverse correspondence between the latitude, longitude, altitude and monthly solar irradiation. For this purpose the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) data of eight Djibouti sites were used as training and testing in a standard three layers network with the back propagation algorithm of Lavenber-Marquardt. Results have shown a very good agreement for the solar irradiation prediction in Djibouti and proves that the proposed approach can be well used as an efficient tool for prediction of solar irradiation by providing so helpful information concerning sites selection, design and planning of solar plants.

Keywords: artificial neural network, solar irradiation, concentrated solar power, Lavenberg-Marquardt

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Abdelhammid Chibane

Abstract:

This study summarizes state-of-the-art knowledge in the seismic response of vertically irregular building frames. Criteria defining vertical irregularity as per the current building codes have been discussed. A review of studies on the seismic behaviour of vertically irregular structures along with their findings has been presented. It is observed that building codes provide criteria to classify the vertically irregular structures and suggest dynamic analysis to arrive at design lateral forces. Most of the studies agree on the increase in drift demand in the tower portion of set-back structures and on the increase in seismic demand for buildings with discontinuous distributions in mass, stiffness, and strength. The largest seismic demand is found for the combined-stiffness-and-strength irregularity.

Keywords: mass irregularity, set-back structure, stiffness irregularity, strength irregularity, vertical irregularity

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Authors: Leila Torkaman, Nasser Ghassembaglou

Abstract:

Significant quota of Municipal Electrical Energy consumption is related to Decentralized Air Conditioning which is mostly provided by evaporative coolers. So the aim is to optimize design of air conditioners to increase their efficiencies. To achieve this goal, results of practical standardized tests for 40 evaporative coolers in different types collected and simultaneously results for same coolers based on one of EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio) modeling styles are figured out. By comparing experimental results of different coolers standardized tests with modeling results, preciseness of used model is assessed and after comparing gained preciseness with international standards based on EER for cooling capacity, aeration and also electrical energy consumption, energy label from A (most effective) to G (less effective) is classified. finally needed methods to optimize energy consumption and cooler's classification are provided.

Keywords: cooler, EER, energy label, optimization

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Authors: M. Linek, P. Nita

Abstract:

In the previous airfield construction industry, pavements made of reinforced concrete have been used very rarely; however, the necessity to use this type of pavements in an emergency situations justifies the need reference to this issue. The paper concerns the problem of airfield pavement dimensioning made of reinforced concrete and the evaluation of selected dimensioning methods of reinforced concrete slabs intended for airfield pavements. Analysis of slabs dimensioning, according to classical method of limit states has been performed and it has been compared to results obtained in case of methods complying with Eurocode 2 guidelines. Basis of an analysis was a concrete slab of class C35/45 with reinforcement, located in tension zone. Steel bars of 16.0 mm have been used as slab reinforcement. According to comparative analysis of obtained results, conclusions were reached regarding application legitimacy of the discussed methods and their design advantages.

Keywords: rainforced concrete, cement concrete, airport pavements, dimensioning

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Authors: Ramana Reddy, Vijay Kothari

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Aircraft provide a fast, reliable mode of transport with no comparable alternative for long distance travel. Throughout the years, technology improvements have been made to aircraft and engines to make them more fuel efficient. Air traffic continues to grow around the world and needs more aircrafts to accommodate such rapid growth. This has direct consequences on two of the most important environmental factors i.e. emissions and noise. Aviation contributes about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation emits a number of pollutants that alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere, changing its radiative balance and hence influencing the climate. In order to reduce or if possible eliminate potential harm to the environment and also make air travel efficient and economical, an environmentally beneficial concept called “Green Aviation System” is required. This is a structured frame work with elements like innovative technologies/tools in engineering design, manufacturing, airport and fleet operations.

Keywords: air traffic, environment, emissions, noise, green aviation system

Procedia PDF Downloads 442

Authors: Cheng Xu, Rui Zhong

Abstract:

Utilizing a preregistered randomized experiment, this study explores the effects of anonymity and curated identity on trust within the Metaverse. Participants were randomly assigned to different conditions of anonymity and identity curation and engaged in a series of tasks designed to mirror the complexities of trust in real-world social interactions. Trust was measured using the classical trust game, allowing for a nuanced understanding of how these factors interact and influence trust. The findings reveal that higher levels of anonymity negatively impact trust, while identity curation can moderate this effect. Mechanism analysis uncovers how anonymity influences perceived reciprocity and group cohesion, and how curation can moderate these relationships. The results demonstrate a nuanced interaction between anonymity and trust, with variations across different curation levels. These insights provide a multifaceted understanding of trust within virtual environments, contributing valuable knowledge to the design, policy-making, and ethical considerations of the Metaverse

Keywords: metaverse, anonymity, curated identity, social behavior, trust

Procedia PDF Downloads 115