Search results for: developmental coordination delay
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2038

Search results for: developmental coordination delay

1138 Relay Node Selection Algorithm for Cooperative Communications in Wireless Networks

Authors: Sunmyeng Kim

Abstract:

IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards support multiple transmission rates. Even though the use of multiple transmission rates increase the WLAN capacity, this feature leads to the performance anomaly problem. Cooperative communication was introduced to relieve the performance anomaly problem. Data packets are delivered to the destination much faster through a relay node with high rate than through direct transmission to the destination at low rate. In the legacy cooperative protocols, a source node chooses a relay node only based on the transmission rate. Therefore, they are not so feasible in multi-flow environments since they do not consider the effect of other flows. To alleviate the effect, we propose a new relay node selection algorithm based on the transmission rate and channel contention level. Performance evaluation is conducted using simulation, and shows that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms the previous protocol in terms of throughput and delay.

Keywords: cooperative communications, MAC protocol, relay node, WLAN

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1137 A Comparative Study of Adjustment Problems of Freshmen and Senior Year Students

Authors: Shimony Agrawal

Abstract:

In this continually evolving world, change is the most imperative component of our identity. The term alteration alludes to degree by which an individual adapts to inward strains, needs, clashes and can bring coordination between his internal requests and those forced by the external world. Adjustment is a way of managing various demands of life. . Entering school is a defining moment for school first year recruits in their adulthood. The progress from school to school can be rationally and in addition physically troubling. Students deal with a unique amount of stressors when they enter college. Introductory months of school are loaded with apprehension and attempting to fit in the new condition. Colleges and schools should ensure their understudies are balanced in the new condition by giving help at whatever point vital.. The main objective of the study was a comparative analysis of adjustment level with respect to overall adjustment level, gender and living environment. This research has been conducted using Adjustment Inventory for College Students (AICS). The total population is comprised of 240 college-going students. The data majority of the population scored poorly on Emotional Adjustment. Also, female students faced more adjustment problems as compared to male students. However, no significant change was noticed in living environment of the students.

Keywords: adjustment, college students, freshmen year, senior year

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1136 The Delaying Influence of Degradation on the Divestment of Gas Turbines for Associated Gas Utilisation: Part 1

Authors: Mafel Obhuo, Dodeye I. Igbong, Duabari S. Aziaka, Pericles Pilidis

Abstract:

An important feature of the exploitation of associated gas as fuel for gas turbine engines is a declining supply. So when exploiting this resource, the divestment of prime movers is very important as the fuel supply diminishes with time. This paper explores the influence of engine degradation on the timing of divestments. Hypothetical but realistic gas turbine engines were modelled with Turbomatch, the Cranfield University gas turbine performance simulation tool. The results were deployed in three degradation scenarios within the TERA (Techno-economic and environmental risk analysis) framework to develop economic models. An optimisation with Genetic Algorithms was carried out to maximize the economic benefit. The results show that degradation will have a significant impact. It will delay the divestment of power plants, while they are running less efficiently. Over a 20 year investment, a decrease of $0.11bn, $0.26bn and $0.45bn (billion US dollars) were observed for the three degradation scenarios as against the clean case.

Keywords: economic return, flared associated gas, net present value, optimization

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1135 Multi-Sender MAC Protocol Based on Temporal Reuse in Underwater Acoustic Networks

Authors: Dongwon Lee, Sunmyeng Kim

Abstract:

Underwater acoustic networks (UANs) have become a very active research area in recent years. Compared with wireless networks, UANs are characterized by the limited bandwidth, long propagation delay and high channel dynamic in acoustic modems, which pose challenges to the design of medium access control (MAC) protocol. The characteristics severely affect network performance. In this paper, we study a MS-MAC (Multi-Sender MAC) protocol in order to improve network performance. The proposed protocol exploits temporal reuse by learning the propagation delays to neighboring nodes. A source node locally calculates the transmission schedules of its neighboring nodes and itself based on the propagation delays to avoid collisions. Performance evaluation is conducted using simulation, and confirms that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms the previous protocol in terms of throughput.

Keywords: acoustic channel, MAC, temporal reuse, UAN

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1134 Disparities in the Levels of Economic Development in Uttar Pradesh: A Regional Analysis

Authors: Naushaba Naseem Ahmed

Abstract:

Economic development does not merely depend upon the level of development but also on its distributive aspect. As it is a serious issue, the fruit of development is not equally distributed among the different section of peoples and different part of the country this cause the regional disparities in the levels of social economic development. Different part of the country has different resource endowments in term of natural, human and capital. If there is the uniform condition to grow, these areas that have better resources, are favourably placed grow comparatively faster as other areas. Thus with the very stage of development, gap between resourceful and less resourceful area goes on widening. This paper is an attempt to highlight the levels of disparities in term of economic development with the help of selected variables. Principal component analysis, correlation, and coefficient of variation are the techniques which were used in paper and employed published data for analysis. The result shows that Western region of Uttar Pradesh is more developed followed by Central Region. There will be urgent need in investment and developmental policies for the backward region like Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.

Keywords: coefficient of variation, correlation, economic development, principal component analysis

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1133 Exploring Structure of Human Chromosomes Using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging

Authors: A. Bhartiya, S. Botchway, M. Yusuf, I. Robinson

Abstract:

Chromatin condensation is maintained by DNA-based proteins and some divalent cations (Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, etc.). Condensation process during cell division maintains structural and functional organizations of chromosomes by transferring genetic information correctly to daughter cells. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) technique measures the fluorescence decay of fixed human chromosomes by calculating the lifetime of fluorophores at a pixel x of the arrival of each photon as a function of time delay t, following excitation with a laser pulse. Fixed metaphase human chromosomes were labelled with DNA-binding dye, DAPI and later DAPI fluorescence lifetime measured using multiphoton microscopy. 5 out of 23 pairs of human chromosomes shown shorter lifetime at the centromere region, differentiating proportion of compaction along the length of chromosomes. Different lifetime was observed in a condensed and de-condensed chromosome. It clearly indicates the involvement of divalent cations in the process of condensation.

Keywords: divalent cations, FLIM (Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging), human chromosomes, multiphoton microscopy

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1132 Separation of Lanthanides Ions from Mineral Waste with Functionalized Pillar[5]Arenes: Synthesis, Physicochemical Characterization and Molecular Dynamics Studies

Authors: Ariesny Vera, Rodrigo Montecinos

Abstract:

The rare-earth elements (REEs) or rare-earth metals (REMs), correspond to seventeen chemical elements composed by the fifteen lanthanoids, as well as scandium and yttrium. Lanthanoids corresponds to lanthanum and the f-block elements, from cerium to lutetium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements because they have ionic radii similar to the lighter f-block elements. These elements were called rare earths because they are simply more difficult to extract and separate individually than the most metals and, generally, they do not accumulate in minerals, they are rarely found in easily mined ores and are often unfavorably distributed in common ores/minerals. REEs show unique chemical and physical properties, in comparison to the other metals in the periodic table. Nowadays, these physicochemical properties are utilized in a wide range of synthetic, catalytic, electronic, medicinal, and military applications. Because of their applications, the global demand for rare earth metals is becoming progressively more important in the transition to a self-sustaining society and greener economy. However, due to the difficult separation between lanthanoid ions, the high cost and pollution of these processes, the scientists search the development of a method that combines selectivity and quantitative separation of lanthanoids from the leaching liquor, while being more economical and environmentally friendly processes. This motivation has favored the design and development of more efficient and environmentally friendly cation extractors with the incorporation of compounds as ionic liquids, membrane inclusion polymers (PIM) and supramolecular systems. Supramolecular chemistry focuses on the development of host-guest systems, in which a host molecule can recognize and bind a certain guest molecule or ion. Normally, the formation of a host-guest complex involves non-covalent interactions Additionally, host-guest interactions can be influenced among others effects by the structural nature of host and guests. The different macrocyclic hosts for lanthanoid species that have been studied are crown ethers, cyclodextrins, cucurbituryls, calixarenes and pillararenes.Among all the factors that can influence and affect lanthanoid (III) coordination, perhaps the most basic of them is the systematic control using macrocyclic substituents that promote a selective coordination. In this sense, macrocycles pillar[n]arenes (P[n]As) present a relatively easy functionalization and they have more π-rich cavity than other host molecules. This gives to P[n]As a negative electrostatic potential in the cavity which would be responsible for the selectivity of these compounds towards cations. Furthermore, the cavity size, the linker, and the functional groups of the polar headgroups could be modified in order to control the association of lanthanoid cations. In this sense, different P[n]As systems, specifically derivatives of the pentamer P[5]A functionalized with amide, amine, phosphate and sulfate derivatives, have been designed in terms of experimental synthesis and molecular dynamics, and the interaction between these P[5]As and some lanthanoid ions such as La³+, Eu³+ and Lu³+ has been studied by physicochemical characterization by 1H-NMR, ITC and fluorescence in the case of Eu³+ systems. The molecular dynamics study of these systems was developed in hexane as solvent, also taking into account the lanthanoid ions mentioned above, and the respective comparison studies between the different ions.

Keywords: lanthanoids, macrocycles, pillar[n]arenes, rare-earth metal extraction, supramolecular chemistry, supramolecular complexes.

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1131 A Study on How to Improve PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guidelines Performance by Simulation

Authors: Fatemeh Jaferi, Moslem Parsa, Seyed Mehdi Sajadi

Abstract:

The project-oriented organizations are more appropriate for sustainable environments. Any effective project-oriented organization should institutionalize its project management processes in such a manner to yield the greatest possible profits. The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between the project management PMBOK guideline (Project Management Body of Knowledge) and simulation technology in project-oriented organizations. The methodology involves using five steps for applying these two tools aimed at enhancing project management processes in the Lorestan Gas Corporation, as one of the project-oriented organization. Results show the implementation of such management approach leads to a 5% performance improvement and using PMBOK can be instrumental in effective delay management. The implementation of the aforementioned improvement package was effective in improving the efficiency of organizational processes; in terms of optimizing the resource utilization that has manifested itself in resource losses and cost reductions.

Keywords: project-orientation, processes, PMBOK, optimization, organization, management

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1130 The Contribution of Vygotsky's Social and Cultural Theory to the Understanding of Cognitive Development

Authors: Salah Eddine Ben Fadhel

Abstract:

Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) was one of the most significant psychologists of the twentieth century despite his short life. His cultural-historical theory is still inspiring many researchers today. At the same time, we observe in many studies a lack of understanding of his thoughts. Vygotsky poses in this theory the contribution of society to individual development and learning. Thus, it suggests that human learning is largely a social and cultural process, further mentioning the influence of interactions between people and the culture in which they live. In this presentation, we highlight, on the one hand, the strong points of the theory by highlighting the major questions it raises and its contribution to developmental psychology in general. On the other hand, we will demonstrate what Vygotsky's theory brings today to the understanding of the cognitive development of children and adolescents. The major objective is to better understand the cognitive mechanisms involved in the learning process in children and adolescents and, therefore, demonstrate the complex nature of psychological development. The main contribution is to provide conceptual insight, which allows us to better understand the importance of the theory and its major pedagogical implications.

Keywords: vygotsky, society, culture, history

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1129 The Role of Facades in Conserving the Image of the City

Authors: Hemadri Raut

Abstract:

The city is a blend of the possible interactions of the built form, open spaces and their spatial organization layout in a geographical area to obtain an integrated pattern and environment with building facades being a dominant figure in the body of a city. Façades of each city have their own inherent properties responsive to the human behaviour, weather conditions, safety factors, material availability and composition along with the necessary aesthetics in coordination with adjacent building facades. Cities experience a huge transformation in the culture, lifestyle; socioeconomic conditions and technology nowadays because of the increasing population, urban sprawl, industrialization, contemporary architectural style, post-disaster consequences, war reconstructions, etc. This leads to the loss of the actual identity and architectural character of the city which in turn induces chaos and turbulence in the city. This paper attempts to identify and learn from the traditional elements that would make us more aware of the unique identity of the local communities in a city. It further studies the architectural style, color, shape, and design techniques through the case studies of contextual cities. The work focuses on the observation and transformation of the image of the city through these considerations in the designing of the facades to achieve the reconciliation of the people with urban spaces.

Keywords: building facades, city, community, heritage, identity, transformation, urban

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1128 Numerical Analysis of Fire Performance of Timber Structures

Authors: Van Diem Thi, Mourad Khelifa, Mohammed El Ganaoui, Yann Rogaume

Abstract:

An efficient numerical method has been developed to incorporate the effects of heat transfer in timber panels on partition walls exposed to real building fires. The procedure has been added to the software package Abaqus/Standard as a user-defined subroutine (UMATHT) and has been verified using both time-and spatially dependent heat fluxes in two- and three-dimensional problems. The aim is to contribute to the development of simulation tools needed to assist structural engineers and fire testing laboratories in technical assessment exercises. The presented method can also be used under the developmental stages of building components to optimize performance in real fire conditions. The accuracy of the used thermal properties and the finite element models was validated by comparing the predicted results with three different available fire tests in literature. It was found that the model calibrated to results from standard fire conditions provided reasonable predictions of temperatures within assemblies exposed to real building fire.

Keywords: Timber panels, heat transfer, thermal properties, standard fire tests

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1127 Organization of the Olfactory System and the Mushroom Body of the Weaver Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina

Authors: Rajashekhar K. Patil, Martin J. Babu

Abstract:

Weaver ants-Oecophylla smaragdina live in colonies that have polymorphic castes. The females which include the queen, major and minor workers are haploid. The individuals of castes are dependent on olfactory cues for carrying out caste-specific behaviour. In an effort to understand whether organizational differences exist to support these behavioural differences, we studied the olfactory system at the level of the sensilla on the antennae, olfactory glomeruli and the Kenyon cells in the mushroom bodies (MB). The MB differ in major and minor workers in terms of their size, with the major workers having relatively larger calyces and peduncle. The morphology of different types of Kenyon cells as revealed by Golgi-rapid staining was studied and the major workers had more dendritic arbors than minor workers. This suggests a greater degree of olfactory processing in major workers. Differences in caste-specific arrangement of sensilla, olfactory glomeruli and celluar architecture of MB indicate a developmental programme that forms basis of differential behaviour.

Keywords: ant, oecophylla, caste, mushroom body

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1126 Ranking Effective Factors on Strategic Planning to Achieve Organization Objectives in Fuzzy Multivariate Decision-Making Technique

Authors: Elahe Memari, Ahmad Aslizadeh, Ahmad Memari

Abstract:

Today strategic planning is counted as the most important duties of senior directors in each organization. Strategic planning allows the organizations to implement compiled strategies and reach higher competitive benefits than their competitors. The present research work tries to prepare and rank the strategies form effective factors on strategic planning in fulfillment of the State Road Management and Transportation Organization in order to indicate the role of organizational factors in efficiency of the process to organization managers. Connection between six main factors in fulfillment of State Road Management and Transportation Organization were studied here, including Improvement of Strategic Thinking in senior managers, improvement of the organization business process, rationalization of resources allocation in different parts of the organization, coordination and conformity of strategic plan with organization needs, adjustment of organization activities with environmental changes, reinforcement of organizational culture. All said factors approved by implemented tests and then ranked using fuzzy multivariate decision-making technique.

Keywords: Fuzzy TOPSIS, improvement of organization business process, multivariate decision-making, strategic planning

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1125 Adopting Flocks of Birds Approach to Predator for Anomalies Detection on Industrial Control Systems

Authors: M. Okeke, A. Blyth

Abstract:

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) such as Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) can be seen in many different critical infrastructures, from nuclear management to utility, medical equipment, power, waste and engine management on ships and planes. The role SCADA plays in critical infrastructure has resulted in a call to secure them. Many lives depend on it for daily activities and the attack vectors are becoming more sophisticated. Hence, the security of ICS is vital as malfunction of it might result in huge risk. This paper describes how the application of Prey Predator (PP) approach in flocks of birds could enhance the detection of malicious activities on ICS. The PP approach explains how these animals in groups or flocks detect predators by following some simple rules. They are not necessarily very intelligent animals but their approach in solving complex issues such as detection through corporation, coordination and communication worth emulating. This paper will emulate flocking behavior seen in birds in detecting predators. The PP approach will adopt six nearest bird approach in detecting any predator. Their local and global bests are based on the individual detection as well as group detection. The PP algorithm was designed following MapReduce methodology that follows a Split Detection Convergence (SDC) approach.

Keywords: artificial life, industrial control system (ICS), IDS, prey predator (PP), SCADA, SDC

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1124 Linking Excellence in Biomedical Knowledge and Computational Intelligence Research for Personalized Management of Cardiovascular Diseases within Personal Health Care

Authors: T. Rocha, P. Carvalho, S. Paredes, J. Henriques, A. Bianchi, V. Traver, A. Martinez

Abstract:

The main goal of LINK project is to join competences in intelligent processing in order to create a research ecosystem to address two central scientific and technical challenges for personal health care (PHC) deployment: i) how to merge clinical evidence knowledge in computational decision support systems for PHC management and ii) how to provide achieve personalized services, i.e., solutions adapted to the specific user needs and characteristics. The final goal of one of the work packages (WP2), designated Sustainable Linking and Synergies for Excellence, is the definition, implementation and coordination of the necessary activities to create and to strengthen durable links between the LiNK partners. This work focuses on the strategy that has been followed to achieve the definition of the Research Tracks (RT), which will support a set of actions to be pursued along the LiNK project. These include common research activities, knowledge transfer among the researchers of the consortium, and PhD student and post-doc co-advisement. Moreover, the RTs will establish the basis for the definition of concepts and their evolution to project proposals.

Keywords: LiNK Twin European Project, personal health care, cardiovascular diseases, research tracks

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1123 Hybrid Algorithm for Frequency Channel Selection in Wi-Fi Networks

Authors: Cesar Hernández, Diego Giral, Ingrid Páez

Abstract:

This article proposes a hybrid algorithm for spectrum allocation in cognitive radio networks based on the algorithms Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to improve the performance of the spectrum mobility of secondary users in cognitive radio networks. To calculate the level of performance of the proposed algorithm a comparative analysis between the proposed AHP-TOPSIS, Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and Multiplicative Exponent Weighting (MEW) algorithm is performed. Four evaluation metrics is used. These metrics are the accumulative average of failed handoffs, the accumulative average of handoffs performed, the accumulative average of transmission bandwidth, and the accumulative average of the transmission delay. The results of the comparison show that AHP-TOPSIS Algorithm provides 2.4 times better performance compared to a GRA Algorithm and, 1.5 times better than the MEW Algorithm.

Keywords: cognitive radio, decision making, hybrid algorithm, spectrum handoff, wireless networks

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1122 Faults in the Projects, Deviation in the Cost

Authors: S. Ahmed, P. Dlask, B. Hasan

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There are several ways to estimate the cost of the construction project: simple and detailed. The process of estimating cost is usually done during the design stage, which should take long-time and the designer must give attention to all details. This paper explain the causes of the deviations occurring in the cost of the construction project, and determines the reasons of these differences between contractual cost and final cost of the construction project, through the study of literature review related to this field, and benefiting from the experience of workers in the field of building (owners, contractors) through designing a questionnaire, and finding the most ten important reasons and explain the relation between the contractual cost and the final cost according to these reasons. The difference between those values will be showed through diagrams drawn using the statistical program. In addition to studying the effects of overrun costs on the advancing of the project, and identify the most five important effects. According to the results, we can propose the right direction for the final cost evaluation and propose some measures that would help to control and adjust the deviation in the costs.

Keywords: construction projects, building, cost, estimating costs, delay, overrun

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1121 Illegal Migration and Refugee Crisis as a Threat to National Security, Economic and Social System: The Bulgarian Case

Authors: Jordan Deliversky

Abstract:

Unlike all conventional forms of migration, migration crisis and migratory processes provide pressure to governments and are being expressed as different phenomenon in relation to nature and forms. The objective of this paper is to present the migration and refugee crisis as revealing numerous challenges faced by authorities responsible for the social and economic stability in Bulgaria as well as those providing conditions for reinforcement of the high level of national security in Bulgaria. The analysis is focused on exploring the multiple origins of factors influencing migration processes in Europe, in the light of the measures provided by the Bulgarian state authorities. The main results show that the society itself is facing the challenge of integrating refugees and migrants, so to be able to comply with the principles and values associated with tolerance to social, religious and cultural differences, and not allowing migrants to become marginalized community. Migration pressure creates a number of risks and threats to the Bulgarian national security. Our country has the capacity and resources to meet these potential threats, as a main factor for minimizing the risks to national security is the improvement of coordination and coherence of actions between various actors serving to the security sector.

Keywords: legislation, migrants, refugees, security, terrorism

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1120 Adaptive Multipath Mitigation Acquisition Approach for Global Positioning System Software Receivers

Authors: Animut Meseret Simachew

Abstract:

Parallel Code Phase Search Acquisition (PCSA) Algorithm has been considered as a promising method in GPS software receivers for detection and estimation of the accurate correlation peak between the received Global Positioning System (GPS) signal and locally generated replicas. GPS signal acquisition in highly dense multipath environments is the main research challenge. In this work, we proposed a robust variable step-size (RVSS) PCSA algorithm based on fast frequency transform (FFT) filtering technique to mitigate short time delay multipath signals. Simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm over the conventional PCSA algorithm. The proposed RVSS-PCSA algorithm equalizes the received carrier wiped-off signal with locally generated C/A code.

Keywords: adaptive PCSA, detection and estimation, GPS signal acquisition, GPS software receiver

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1119 Impact of School Environment on Socio-Affective Development: A Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Study of Urban and Suburban Gifted and Talented Programs

Authors: Rebekah Granger Ellis, Richard B. Speaker, Pat Austin

Abstract:

This study used two psychological scales to examine the level of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment of over 500 gifted and talented high school students in various academic and creative arts programs in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. For decades, numerous models and programs purporting to encourage socio-affective characteristics of adolescent development have been explored in curriculum theory and design. Socio-affective merges social, emotional, and moral domains. It encompasses interpersonal relations and social behaviors; development and regulation of emotions; personal and gender identity construction; empathy development; moral development, thinking, and judgment. Examining development in these socio-affective domains can provide insight into why some gifted and talented adolescents are not successful in adulthood despite advanced IQ scores. Particularly whether nonintellectual characteristics of gifted and talented individuals, such as emotional, social and moral capabilities, are as advanced as their intellectual abilities and how these are related to each other. Unique characteristics distinguish gifted and talented individuals; these may appear as strengths, but there is the potential for problems to accompany them. Although many thrive in their school environments, some gifted students struggle rather than flourish. In the socio-affective domain, these adolescents face special intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental problems. Gifted individuals’ cognitive, psychological, and emotional development occurs asynchronously, in multidimensional layers at different rates and unevenly across ability levels. Therefore, it is important to examine the long-term effects of participation in various gifted and talented programs on the socio-affective development of gifted and talented adolescents. This quasi-experimental longitudinal study examined students in several gifted and talented education programs (creative arts school, urban charter schools, and suburban public schools) for (1) socio-affective development level and (2) whether a particular gifted and talented program encourages developmental growth. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do academically and artistically talented gifted 10th and 11th grade students perform on psychometric scales of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment? Do they differ from their age or grade normative sample? Are their gender differences among gifted students? (2) Does school environment impact 10th and 11th grade gifted and talented students’ socio-affective development? Do gifted adolescents who participate in a particular school gifted program differ in their developmental profiles of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment? Students’ performances on psychometric instruments were compared over time and by type of program. Participants took pre-, mid-, and post-tests over the course of an academic school year with Defining Issues Test (DIT-2) assessing moral judgment and BarOn EQ-I: YV assessing social and emotional intelligence. Based on these assessments, quantitative differences in growth on psychological scales (individual and school) were examined. Change scores between schools were also compared. If a school showed change, artifacts (culture, curricula, instructional methodology) provided insight as to environmental qualities that produced this difference.

Keywords: gifted and talented education, moral development, socio-affective development, socio-affective education

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1118 Analysis of Interleaving Scheme for Narrowband VoIP System under Pervasive Environment

Authors: Monica Sharma, Harjit Pal Singh, Jasbinder Singh, Manju Bala

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In Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, the speech signal is degraded when passed through the network layers. The speech signal is processed through the best effort policy based IP network, which leads to the network degradations including delay, packet loss and jitter. The packet loss is the major issue of the degradation in the VoIP signal quality; even a single lost packet may generate audible distortion in the decoded speech signal. In addition to these network degradations, the quality of the speech signal is also affected by the environmental noises and coder distortions. The signal quality of the VoIP system is improved through the interleaving technique. The performance of the system is evaluated for various types of noises at different network conditions. The performance of the enhanced VoIP signal is evaluated using perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) measurement for narrow band signal.

Keywords: VoIP, interleaving, packet loss, packet size, background noise

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1117 Evaluation of the Use of U-Wrap Anchorage Systems for Strengthening Concrete Members Reinforced by Fiber Reinforced-Polymer Laminate

Authors: Mai A. Aljaberi

Abstract:

The anchorage of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets is the most effective solution to prevent or delay debonding failure; this system has proven to get better levels of FRP utilization. Unfortunately, the related design information is still unclear. This shortcoming limits the widespread use of the anchorage system. In order to minimize the knowledge gap about the design of U-wrap anchors, this paper reports the results of tested beams which were strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets at their tension sides and secured with U-wrap anchors at each end of the longitudinal CFRP. The beams were tested under four-point loading until failure. The parameters examined include the compressive strength of the concrete and the number of longitudinal CFRP. It is concluded that these parameters have a considerable effect on the debonding of the strain. The greatest improvement in the strain was 55.8% over the control beam.

Keywords: CFRP, concrete strengthening, debonding failure, debonding strain, U-wrap anchor

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1116 Study of Dual Fuel Engine as Environmentally Friendly Engine

Authors: Nilam S. Octaviani, Semin

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The diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses compressed air to combust. The diesel engines are widely used in the world because it has the most excellent combustion efficiency than other types of internal combustion engine.  However, the exhaust emissions of it produce pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment. Therefore, natural gas used as an alternative fuel using on compression ignition engine to respond those environment issues. This paper aims to discuss the comparison of the technical characteristics and exhaust gases emission from conventional diesel engine and dual fuel diesel engine. According to the study, the dual fuel engine applications have a lower compression pressure and has longer ignition delay compared with normal diesel mode. The engine power is decreased at dual fuel mode. However, the exhaust gases emission on dual fuel engine significantly reduce the nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2) and particular metter (PM) emissions.

Keywords: diesel engine, dual fuel diesel engine, emission reduction, technical characteristics

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1115 Orientational Pair Correlation Functions Modelling of the LiCl6H2O by the Hybrid Reverse Monte Carlo: Using an Environment Dependence Interaction Potential

Authors: Mohammed Habchi, Sidi Mohammed Mesli, Rafik Benallal, Mohammed Kotbi

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On the basis of four partial correlation functions and some geometric constraints obtained from neutron scattering experiments, a Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulation has been performed in the study of the aqueous electrolyte LiCl6H2O at the glassy state. The obtained 3-dimensional model allows computing pair radial and orientational distribution functions in order to explore the structural features of the system. Unrealistic features appeared in some coordination peaks. To remedy to this, we use the Hybrid Reverse Monte Carlo (HRMC), incorporating an additional energy constraint in addition to the usual constraints derived from experiments. The energy of the system is calculated using an Environment Dependence Interaction Potential (EDIP). Ions effects is studied by comparing correlations between water molecules in the solution and in pure water at room temperature Our results show a good agreement between experimental and computed partial distribution functions (PDFs) as well as a significant improvement in orientational distribution curves.

Keywords: LiCl6H2O, glassy state, RMC, HRMC

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1114 Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Uranium(vi) from Aqueous Solution Using 1-Hydroxyalkylidene-1,1-Diphosphonic Acids

Authors: M. Bouhoun Ali, A. Y. Badjah Hadj Ahmed, M. Attou, A. Elias, M. A. Didi

Abstract:

The extraction of uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions has been investigated using 1-hydroxyhexadecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HHDPA) and 1-hydroxydodecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HDDPA), which were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 31P NMR spectroscopy. In this paper, we propose a tentative assignment for the shifts of those two ligands and their specific complexes with uranium(VI). We carried out the extraction of uranium(VI) by HHDPA and HDDPA from [carbon tetrachloride + 2-octanol (v/v: 90%/10%)] solutions. Various factors such as contact time, pH, organic/aqueous phase ratio and extractant concentration were considered. The optimum conditions obtained were: contact time= 20 min, organic/aqueous phase ratio = 1, pH value = 3.0 and extractant concentration = 0.3M. The extraction yields are more significant in the case of the HHDPA which is equipped with a hydrocarbon chain, longer than that of the HDDPA. Logarithmic plots of the uranium(VI) distribution ratio vs. pHeq and the extractant concentration showed that the ratio of extractant to extracted uranium(VI) (ligand/metal) is 2:1. The formula of the complex of uranium(VI) with the HHDPA and the DHDPA is UO2(H3L)2 (HHDPA and DHDPA are denoted as H4L). A spectroscopic analysis has showed that coordination of uranium(VI) takes place via oxygen atoms.

Keywords: liquid-liquid extraction, uranium(vi), 1-hydroxyalkylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acids, hhdpa, hddpa, aqueous solution

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1113 Analysis of Trends in Equity of Maternal Health Care in South India

Authors: Anushree S. Panikkassery

Abstract:

The paper analyses the pattern and trend of maternal health care in south Indian states. It studies the interstate disparities in terms of maternal health care. It also compares the trends in terms of achieving the target of sustainable development Goal is related to maternal health. The maternal health care (MHC) development is one of the key indicators for the development of health sector in the country and assumes significance from the socioeconomic and developmental perspectives. Maternal health care mainly consists of composite care during pregnancy, child birth as well as postpartum period. Antenatal care, identification, referral and management of high risk pregnancies, safe and healthy child birth and early postnatal care are some of the important issues pertaining to maternal health. Data is collected from national family health survey 1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06, and 2015-16. A concentration index is used to study the disparities in equity of maternal health among south Indian states. The study shows that there has been an improvement in maternal health care in south Indian states with Kerala topping among the states. But there exist disparities among the south Indian states.

Keywords: antenatal care, disparities, equity, maternal health

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1112 Analysis of Green Wood Preservation Chemicals

Authors: Aitor Barbero-López, Soumaya Chibily, Gerhard Scheepers, Thomas Grahn, Martti Venäläinen, Antti Haapala

Abstract:

Wood decay is addressed continuously within the wood industry through use and development of wood preservatives. The increasing awareness on the negative effects of many chemicals towards the environment is causing political restrictions in their use and creating more urgent need for research on green alternatives. This paper discusses some of the possible natural extracts for wood preserving applications and compares the analytical methods available for testing their behavior and efficiency against decay fungi. The results indicate that natural extracts have interesting chemical constituents that delay fungal growth but vary in efficiency depending on the chemical concentration and substrate used. Results also suggest that presence and redistribution of preservatives in wood during exposure trials can be assessed by spectral imaging methods although standardized methods are not available. This study concludes that, in addition to the many standard methods available, there is a need to develop new faster methods for screening potential preservative formulation while maintaining the comparability and relevance of results.

Keywords: analytics, methods, preservatives, wood decay

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1111 MCDM Spectrum Handover Models for Cognitive Wireless Networks

Authors: Cesar Hernández, Diego Giral, Fernando Santa

Abstract:

The spectral handoff is important in cognitive wireless networks to ensure an adequate quality of service and performance for secondary user communications. This work proposes a benchmarking of performance of the three spectrum handoff models: VIKOR, SAW and MEW. Four evaluation metrics are used. These metrics are, accumulative average of failed handoffs, accumulative average of handoffs performed, accumulative average of transmission bandwidth and, accumulative average of the transmission delay. As a difference with related work, the performance of the three spectrum handoff models was validated with captured data of spectral occupancy in experiments realized at the GSM frequency band (824 MHz-849 MHz). These data represent the actual behavior of the licensed users for this wireless frequency band. The results of the comparative show that VIKOR Algorithm provides 15.8% performance improvement compared to a SAW Algorithm and, 12.1% better than the MEW Algorithm.

Keywords: cognitive radio, decision making, MEW, SAW, spectrum handoff, VIKOR

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1110 Laboratory Evaluation of Rutting and Fatigue Damage Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures Modified with Carbon Nano Tubes

Authors: Ali Zain Ul Abadeen, Arshad Hussain

Abstract:

Roads are considered as the national capital, and huge developmental budget is spent on its construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. Due to proliferating traffic volume, heavier loads and challenging environmental factors, the need for high-performance asphalt pavement is increased. In this research, the asphalt mixture was modified with carbon nanotubes ranging from 0.2% to 2% of binder to study the effect of CNT modification on rutting potential and fatigue life of asphalt mixtures. During this study, the conventional and modified asphalt mixture was subjected to a uni-axial dynamic creep test and dry Hamburg wheel tracking test to study rutting resistance. Fatigue behavior of asphalt mixture was studied using a four-point bending test apparatus. The plateau value of asphalt mixture was taken as a measure of fatigue performance according to the ratio of dissipated energy approach. Results of these experiments showed that CNT modified asphalt mixtures had reduced rut depth and increased rutting and fatigue resistance at higher percentages of carbon nanotubes.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, fatigue, four point bending test, modified asphalt, rutting

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1109 On the Paradigm Shift of the Overall Urban Design in China

Authors: Gaoyuan Wang, Tian Chen, Junnan Liu

Abstract:

Facing a period of major change that’s rarely seen in a century, China formulates the 14th Five-Year Plan and places emphasis on promoting high-quality development. In this context, the overall urban design has become a crucial and systematic tool for high-quality urban development. However, there are bottlenecks in the nature definition, content scope and transmission mechanisms of the current overall urban design in China. The paper interprets the emerging demands of the 14th Five-Year Plan on urban design in terms of new value-quality priority, new dynamic-space performance, new target-region coordination and new path-refined governance. Based on the new trend and appeal, the multi-dimensional thinking integrated with the major tasks of urban design are proposed accordingly, which is the biomass thinking in ecological, production and living element, the strategic thinking in spatial structure, the systematic thinking in the cityscape, the low-carbon thinking in urban form, the governance thinking in public space, the user thinking in design implementation. The paper explores the possibility of transforming the value thinking and technical system of urban design in China and provides a breakthrough path for the urban planning and design industry to better respond to the propositions of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan.

Keywords: China’s 14th five-year plan, overall urban design, urban design thinking, transformation of urban design

Procedia PDF Downloads 266