Search results for: traditional design

Authors: Mohammed Saif Al-Saidi, John P. T. Mo

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Modern engineering assets are complex and very high in value. They are expected to function for years to come, with ability to handle the change in technology and ageing modification. The aging of an engineering asset and continues increase of vendors and contractors numbers forces the asset operation management (or Owner) to design an asset system which can capture these changes. Furthermore, an accurate performance measurement and risk evaluation processes are highly needed. Therefore, this paper explores the nature of the asset management system performance evaluation for an engineering asset based on the System Support Engineering (SSE) principles. The research work explores the asset support system from a range of perspectives, interviewing managers from across a refinery organisation. The factors contributing to complexity of an asset management system are described in context which clusters them into several key areas. It is proposed that SSE framework may then be used as a tool for analysis and management of asset. The paper will conclude with discussion of potential application of the framework and opportunities for future research.

Keywords: asset management, performance, evaluation, modern engineering, System Support Engineering (SSE)

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Authors: Andrew Wee

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As a result of the Italian Independence Wars starting in 1848, Italy began to change through unification. People gradually moved away from some of their traditional practices and values, such as the long-held belief that women were inferior to men, as part of the Risorgimento. Italians began to take interest in opera as a form of emotional release. As opera became more popular and prominent in their culture, it aided in the dissemination of ideas, especially stimulating the spread of imperialism, in the late 19th century, as Italy began extending its presence to other countries. In order to collect the information needed to analyze Italy’s foreign presence, it was necessary to consult texts concerning the culture of the Risorgimento. These texts included primary sources from operatic composers and contemporary recorded accounts. Letters from Giuseppe Verdi, a leader in opera during the Risorgimento, have been scrutinized for indications of popular attitudes of the time. The cultural context of the Risorgimento is essential to understanding the Italian motives and attitudes towards the outside world. On the more political side, research has also entailed the study of historical data of general laws, policies, and their purposes concerning geopolitical boundaries and foreign affairs, such as Edward Said’s thesis on Orientalism. By establishing these two characteristics of Italy, the paper will thoroughly illustrate Italy’s presence in foreign affairs. Texts have been searched with the intent of using information that reveals Italian attitudes toward exotic countries to determine whether their demeanor was positive or condescending. Motives behind sources have been interpreted in context in order to form a complete picture of the Italian sentiment towards foreigners. Additionally, research pertaining to Italian nationalism and imperialism such as song and literature has been used. The primary form of research has been the division of sources that are culturally based and those that are political in nature. Opera had always been developing since its creation in the 17th century, and in the 19th century, the bel canto movement revolutionized opera and its role in Italian society. This paper uses evidence that popular sentiment was influenced by opera to support the belief that the evolution of opera was as a result of the nationalist sentiment, and in turn fueled the cultural movement known as the Risorgimento. In this way, opera proceeded to affect Italian culture by spreading the idea of imperialism.

Keywords: opera, Italian unification, music history, imperialism

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Authors: Ross Hawkes

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The rise of hyperlocal journalism and its role in the wider local news ecosystem has been debated across both industry and academic circles, particularly via the lens of structures, models, and platforms. The nuances within this sphere are now allowing for the semi-professional journalist to emerge as a key component of the landscape at the fringes of journalism. By identifying and framing the labour of these individuals against a backdrop of change within the professional local newspaper publishing industry, it is possible to address wider debates around the ways in which participants enter and exist in the space between amateur and professional journalism. Considerations around prior experience and understanding allow us to better shape and nuance the hyperlocal landscape in order to understand the challenges and opportunities facing local news via this emergent form of semi-professional journalistic production. The disruption to local news posed by the changing nature of audiences, long-established methods of production, the rise of digital platforms, and increased competition in the online space has brought questions around the very nature and identity of local news, as well as the uncertain future and precarity which surrounds it. While the hyperlocal sector has long been associated as a potential future direction for local journalism through an alternative approach to reporting and as a mechanism for participants to pass between amateurism towards professionalism, there is now a semi-professional space being occupied in a different way. Those framed as semi-professional journalists are not necessarily transiting through this space at the fringes of the professional industry; instead, they are occupying and claiming the space as an entity within itself. By framing the semi-professional journalist through a lens of prior experience and knowledge of the sector, it is possible to identify how their motivations vary from the traditional metrics of financial gain, personal progression, or a sense of civic or community duty. While such factors may be by-products of their labour, the desire of such reporters to recreate and retain experiences and values from their past as a participant or consumer is the central basis of the framework to define the semi-professional journalist. Through understanding the motivations, aims and factors shaping the semi-professional journalist within the wider journalism and hyperlocal journalism debates and landscape, it will be possible to better frame the role they can play in sustaining the longer term provision of local news and addressing broader issues and factors within the sector.

Keywords: hyperlocal, journalism, local news, semi-professionalism

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Authors: Homayun Ghasemi, Mojtaba Yousefirad, Mozhgan Farzamisepehr

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Heavy metals are among soil pollutant resources that in case of accumulation in the soil and absorption by the plant, enter into the food chain and poison the plants or the people who consume those plants. This research was performed in order to examine the role of cadmium as a heavy metal in the activity of catalase and peroxidase as well as protein concentration in Trifolium resupinatum L. based on a randomized block design with three repetitions. The used treatments included consumption of Cd (NO3)2 at four levels, namely, 0, 100, 200, and 300 ppm. The plants under study were treated for 10 days. The results of the study showed that catalase activity decreased by the increase of cadmium. Moreover, peroxidase activity increased by an increase inthe consumption of cadmium. The analysis of protein level showed that plantlet protein decreased in high cadmium concentrations. The findings also demonstrated that cadmium concentration in roots was higher than in shoots.

Keywords: catalase, heavy metal, peroxidase, protein

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Shogo Kato, Daisuke Okamoto, Satoko Tsuru, Yoshinori Iizuka, Ryoko Shimono

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Healthcare safety has been perceived important. It is essential to prevent troubles in healthcare processes for healthcare safety. Trouble prevention is based on trouble prediction using accumulated knowledge on processes, troubles, and countermeasures. However, information on troubles has not been accumulated in hospitals in the appropriate structure, and it has not been utilized effectively to prevent troubles. In the previous study, though a detailed knowledge acquisition process for trouble prediction was proposed, the knowledgebase for countermeasures was not involved. In this paper, we aim to propose the structure of the knowledgebase for countermeasures in the knowledge acquisition process for trouble prediction in healthcare process. We first design the structure of countermeasures and propose the knowledge representation form on countermeasures. Then, we evaluate the validity of the proposal, by applying it into an actual hospital.

Keywords: trouble prevention, knowledge structure, structured knowledge, reusable knowledge

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Authors: Wang Zhanquan, Yang Zeping, Gu Chunhua, Zhu Fazhi, Guo Weibin

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Recently, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are becoming the new trend of education. There are many problems under the environment of Database Principle curriculum teaching process in MOOCs, such as teaching ideas and theories which are out of touch with the reality, how to carry out the technical teaching and interactive practice in the MOOCs environment, thus the methods of database course under the environment of MOOCs are proposed. There are three processes to deal with problem solving in the research, which are problems proposed, problems solved, and inductive analysis. The present research includes the design of teaching contents, teaching methods in classroom, flipped classroom teaching mode under the environment of MOOCs, learning flow method and large practice homework. The database designing ability is systematically improved based on the researching methods.

Keywords: problem solving-driven, MOOCs, teaching art, learning flow;

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Authors: Adedeji W. Oyediran, Yekini N. Asafe

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Mechatronics is synergistic integration of mechanical engineering, with electronics and intelligent computer control in the design and manufacturing of industrial products and processes. Automobile (auto car, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor) is a mechatronic system which served as major means of transportation around the world. Virtually all community has a need for automobile. This makes automobile issues as related to diagnostic and repair interesting to all communities. Consequent to the diversification of skill in diagnosing automobile faults and approaches in solving some problems and innovation in automobile industry. It is appropriate to say that repair and diagnostic of automobile will be better enhanced if community has opportunity of sharing knowledge and idea globally. This paper discussed the desirable elements in automobile as mechatronics system and present conceptual framework of virtual community model for automobile users.

Keywords: automobile, automobile users, knowledge sharing, mechatronics system, virtual community

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Authors: Brahim Ferdi, Samira Dib

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The unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), a combination of shunt and series active power filter, is one of the best solutions towards the mitigation of voltage and current harmonics problems in distribution power system. PI controller is very common in the control of UPQC. However, one disadvantage of this conventional controller is the difficulty in tuning its gains (Kp and Ki). To overcome this problem, an adaptive fuzzy logic PI controller is proposed. The controller is composed of fuzzy controller and PI controller. According to the error and error rate of the control system and fuzzy control rules, the fuzzy controller can online adjust the two gains of the PI controller to get better performance of UPQC. Simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed controller. The results show that the proposed controller has fast dynamic response and high accuracy of tracking the current and voltage references.

Keywords: adaptive fuzzy PI controller, current harmonics, PI controller, voltage harmonics, UPQC

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Authors: Tayyaba Bari, Muhammad Hamza Anjum, Samra Kanwal, Fakhera Ikram

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Osteoarthritis, a degenerative condition, affects more than 213 million individuals globally. Since articular cartilage has no or limited vessels, therefore, after deteriorating, it is unable to rejuvenate. Traditional approaches for cartilage repair, like autologous chondrocyte implantation, microfracture and cartilage transplantation are often associated with postoperative complications and lead to further degradation. Decellularized human umbilical cord has gained interest as a viable treatment for cartilage repair. Decellularization removes all cellular contents as well as debris, leaving a biologically active 3D network known as extracellular matrix (ECM). This matrix is biodegradable, non-immunogenic and provides a microenvironment for homeostasis, growth and repair. UC derived bioink function as 3D scaffolding material, not only mediates cell-matrix interactions but also adherence, proliferation and propagation of cells for 3D organoids. This study comprises different physical, chemical and biological approaches to optimize the decellularization of human umbilical cord (UC) tissues followed by the solubilization of these tissues to bioink formation. The decellularization process consisted of two cycles of freeze thaw where the umbilical cord at -20˚C was thawed at room temperature followed by dissection in small sections from 0.5 to 1cm. Similarly decellularization with ionic and non-ionic detergents Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Triton-X 100 revealed that both concentrations of SDS i.e 0.1% and 1% were effective in complete removal of cells from the small UC tissues. The results of decellularization was further confirmed by running them on 1% agarose gel. Histological analysis revealed the efficacy of decellularization, which involves paraffin embedded samples of 4μm processed for Hematoxylin-eosin-safran and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). ECM preservation was confirmed by Alcian Blue, and Masson’s trichrome staining on consecutive sections and images were obtained. Sulfated GAG’s content were determined by 1,9-dimethyl-methylene blue (DMMB) assay, similarly collagen quantification was done by hydroxy proline assay. This 3D bioengineered scaffold will provide a typical atmosphere as in the extracellular matrix of the tissue, which would be seeded with the mesenchymal cells to generate the desired 3D ink for in vitro and in vivo cartilage regeneration applications.

Keywords: umbilical cord, 3d printing, bioink, tissue engineering, cartilage regeneration

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Authors: Khodamorad Nabaki, Jianhu Shen, Xiaodong Huang

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This paper develops a method for considering the critical fatigue stress as a constraint in the Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization (BESO) method. Our aim is to reach an optimal design in which high cycle fatigue failure does not occur for a specific life time. The critical fatigue stress is calculated based on modified Goodman criteria and used as a stress constraint in our topology optimization problem. Since fatigue generally does not occur for compressive stresses, we use the p-norm approach of the stress measurement that considers the highest tensile principal stress in each point as stress measure to calculate the sensitivity numbers. The BESO method has been extended to minimize volume an object subjected to the critical fatigue stress constraint. The optimization results are compared with the results from the compliance minimization problem which shows clearly the merits of our newly developed approach.

Keywords: topology optimization, BESO method, p-norm, fatigue constraint

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Authors: Paolo Castaldo, Bruno Palazzo, Laura Lodato

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This study deals with the seizure effects of friction pendulum (FP) bearings on the seismic reliability of a 3D base-isolated nonlinear structural system, designed according to Italian seismic code (NTC08). The isolated system consists in a 3D reinforced concrete superstructure, a r.c. substructure and the FP devices, described by employing a velocity dependent model. The seismic input uncertainty is considered as a random variable relevant to the problem, by employing a set of natural seismic records selected in compliance with L’Aquila (Italy) seismic hazard as provided from NTC08. Several non-linear dynamic analyses considering the three components of each ground motion have been performed with the aim to evaluate the seismic reliability of the superstructure, substructure, and isolation level, also taking into account the seizure event of the isolation devices. Finally, a design solution aimed at increasing the seismic robustness of the base-isolated systems with FPS is analyzed.

Keywords: FP devices, seismic reliability, seismic robustness, seizure

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Authors: Shuqi Zhang

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Federated learning allows users to participate in collaborative model training without sending data to third-party servers, reducing the risk of user data privacy leakage, and is widely used in smart finance and smart healthcare. However, the distributed architecture design of federation learning itself and the existence of secure aggregation protocols make it inherently vulnerable to backdoor attacks. To solve this problem, the federated learning backdoor defense framework FLEX based on group aggregation, cluster analysis, and neuron pruning is proposed, and inter-compatibility with secure aggregation protocols is achieved. The good performance of FLEX is verified by building a horizontal federated learning framework on the CIFAR-10 dataset for experiments, which achieves 98% success rate of backdoor detection and reduces the success rate of backdoor tasks to 0% ~ 10%.

Keywords: federated learning, secure aggregation, backdoor attack, cluster analysis, neuron pruning

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Authors: Animesh Pan, Geoffrey D. Bothun

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With the development of nanotechnology, research in multifunctional delivery systems has a new pace and dimension. An incipient challenge is to design an all-in-one delivery system that can be used for multiple purposes, including tumor targeting therapy, radio-frequency (RF-), near-infrared (NIR-), light-, or pH-induced controlled release, photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), and medical diagnosis. In this regard, various inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are known to show great potential as the 'functional components' because of their fascinating and tunable physicochemical properties and the possibility of multiple theranostic modalities from individual NPs. Magnetic, luminescent, and plasmonic properties are the three most extensively studied and, more importantly biomedically exploitable properties of inorganic NPs. Although successful attempts of combining any two of them above mentioned functionalities have been made, integrating them in one system has remained challenge. Keeping those in mind, controlled designs of complex colloidal nanoparticle system are one of the most significant challenges in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Therefore, systematic and planned studies providing better revelation are demanded. We report a multifunctional delivery platform-based liposome loaded with drug, iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), and a gold shell on the surface of liposomes, were synthesized using a lipid with polyelectrolyte (layersomes) templating technique. MNPs and the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) were co-encapsulated inside liposomes composed by zwitterionic phophatidylcholine and anionic phosphatidylglycerol using reverse phase evaporation (REV) method. The liposomes were coated with positively charge polyelectrolyte (poly-L-lysine) to enrich the interface with gold anion, exposed to a reducing agent to form a gold nanoshell, and then capped with thio-terminated polyethylene glycol (SH-PEG2000). The core-shell nanostructures were characterized by different techniques like; UV-Vis/NIR scanning spectrophotometer, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope (TEM). This multifunctional system achieves a variety of functions, such as radiofrequency (RF)-triggered release, chemo-hyperthermia, and NIR laser-triggered for photothermal therapy. Herein, we highlight some of the remaining major design challenges in combination with preliminary studies assessing therapeutic objectives. We demonstrate an efficient loading and delivery system to significant cell death of human cancer cells (A549) with therapeutic capabilities. Coupled with RF and NIR excitation to the doxorubicin-loaded core-shell nanostructure helped in securing targeted and controlled drug release to the cancer cells. The present core-shell multifunctional system with their multimodal imaging and therapeutic capabilities would be eminent candidates for cancer theranostics.

Keywords: cancer thernostics, multifunctional nanostructure, photothermal therapy, radiofrequency targeting

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Authors: Nur Azilina Abdul Aziz, Tuti Katrina Abdullah, Ahmad Azmin Mohamad

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Lithium-transition metals and some of their oxides, such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O2, LiFePO4, and LiNiO2 have been used as cathode materials in high performance lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Among the cathode materials, LiCoO2 has potential to been widely used as a lithium-ion battery because of its layered crystalline structure, good capacity, high cell voltage, high specific energy density, high power rate, low self-discharge, and excellent cycle life. This cathode material has been widely used in commercial lithium-ion batteries due to its low irreversible capacity loss and good cycling performance. However, there are several problems that interfere with the production of material that has good electrochemical properties, including the crystallinity, the average particle size and particle size distribution. In recent years, synthesis of nanoparticles has been intensively investigated. Powders prepared by the traditional solid-state reaction have a large particle size and broad size distribution. On the other hand, solution method can reduce the particle size to nanometer range and control the particle size distribution. In this study, LiCoO2 was synthesized using the sol–gel preparation method, which Lithium acetate and Cobalt acetate were used as reactants. The stoichiometric amounts of the reactants were dissolved in deionized water. The solutions were stirred for 30 hours using magnetic stirrer, followed by heating at 80°C under vigorous stirring until a viscous gel was formed. The as-formed gel was calcined at 700°C for 7 h under a room atmosphere. The structural and morphological analysis of LiCoO2 was characterized using X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy. The diffraction pattern of material can be indexed based on the α-NaFeO2 structure. The clear splitting of the hexagonal doublet of (006)/(102) and (108)/(110) in this patterns indicates materials are formed in a well-ordered hexagonal structure. No impurity phase can be seen in this range probably due to the homogeneous mixing of the cations in the precursor. Furthermore, SEM micrograph of the LiCoO2 shows the particle size distribution is almost uniform while particle size is between 0.3-0.5 microns. In conclusion, LiCoO2 powder was successfully synthesized using the sol–gel method. LiCoO2 showed a hexagonal crystal structure. The sample has been prepared clearly indicate the pure phase of LiCoO2. Meanwhile, the morphology of the sample showed that the particle size and size distribution of particles is almost uniform.

Keywords: cathode material, LiCoO2, lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, Sol-Gel method

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Authors: Phuoc Si Nguyen

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Frequency transformation with Pascal matrix equations is a method for transforming an electronic filter (analogue or digital) into another filter. The technique is based on frequency transformation in the s-domain, bilinear z-transform with pre-warping frequency, inverse bilinear transformation and a very useful application of the Pascal’s triangle that simplifies computing and enables calculation by hand when transforming from one filter to another. This paper will introduce two methods to transform a filter into a digital filter: frequency transformation from the s-domain into the z-domain; and frequency transformation in the z-domain. Further, two Pascal matrix equations are derived: an analogue to digital filter Pascal matrix equation and a digital to digital filter Pascal matrix equation. These are used to design a desired digital filter from a given filter.

Keywords: frequency transformation, bilinear z-transformation, pre-warping frequency, digital filters, analog filters, pascal’s triangle

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Authors: Ezio Bassi, Francesco Vercesi, Francesco Benzi

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the potentiality of synchronous reluctance motors for lift systems by also evaluating the vibroacoustic behaviour of the motor. Two types of synchronous machines are designed, analysed, and compared with an equivalent induction motor, which is the more common solution in such gearbox applications. The machines' performance are further improved with optimization procedures based on multiobjective optimization genetic algorithm (MOGA). The difference between the two synchronous motors consists in the rotor geometry; a symmetric and an asymmetric rotor design were investigated. The evaluation of the vibroacoustic performance has been conducted with a multi-variable model and finite element software taking into account electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal features of the motor, therefore carrying out a multi-physics analysis of the electrical machine.

Keywords: synchronous reluctance motor, vibro-acoustic, lift systems, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Wasif Mughees, Malik Al-Ahmad

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This research presents the graphical design analysis and mathematical programming technique to dig out the possible water allocation distribution to minimize water usage in process units. The study involves the mass and property integration in its core methodology. Tehran Oil Refinery is studied to implement the focused water pinch technology for regeneration, reuse and recycling of water streams. Process data is manipulated in terms of sources and sinks, which are given in terms of properties. Sources are the streams to be allocated. Sinks are the units which can accept the sources. Suspended Solids (SS) is taken as a single contaminant. The model minimizes the mount of freshwater from 340 to 275m3/h (19.1%). Redesigning and allocation of water streams was built. The graphical technique and mathematical programming shows the consistency of results which confirms mass transfer dependency of water streams.

Keywords: minimization, water pinch, process integration, pollution prevention

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Authors: Wusu Conteh

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Since the 1990s, neo-liberalization has become a global agenda. The free market ushered in an unprecedented drive by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to secure mineral rights in resource-rich countries. Several governments in the Global South implemented a liberalized mining policy with support from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). MNCs have maintained that voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has engendered socio-economic development in mining-affected communities. However, most resource-rich countries are struggling to transform the resources into sustainable socio-economic development. They are trapped in what has been widely described as the ‘resource curse.’ In an attempt to address this resource conundrum, the African Mining Vision (AMV) of 2009 developed a model on resource governance. The advent of the AMV has engendered the introduction of mandatory community development agreement (CDA) into the legal framework of many countries in Africa. In 2009, Sierra Leone enacted the Mines and Minerals Act that obligates mining companies to invest in Primary Host Communities. The study employs interviews and field observation techniques to explicate the dynamics of the CDA program. A total of 25 respondents -government officials, NGOs/CSOs and community stakeholders were interviewed. The study focuses on a case study of the Sierra Rutile CDA program in Sierra Leone. Extant scholarly works have extensively explored the resource curse and voluntary CSR. There are limited studies to uncover the mandatory CDA and its impact on socio-economic development in mining-affected communities. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explicate the impact of the CDA in Sierra Leone. Using the theory of change helps to understand how the availability of mandatory funds can empower communities to take an active part in decision making related to the development of the communities. The results show that the CDA has engendered a predictable fund for community development. It has also empowered ordinary members of the community to determine the development program. However, the CDA has created a new ground for contestations between the pre-existing local governance structure (traditional authority) and the newly created community development committee (CDC) that is headed by an ordinary member of the community.

Keywords: community development agreement, impact, mandatory, participation

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Authors: Suyong Kim

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Recently because of the rise in the price of rare earth magnet, interest of non-rare earth or less-rare earth motor is growing. Especially to achieve the high power density, Spoke-Type BLDC (Brushless Permanent Magnet) Motor with ferrite permanent magnet are spotlighted. But Spoke-Type Ferrite BLDC Motor has much of magnetic flux leakage in the direction of rotor shaft. In order to solve this problem, there are two conventional ways. But conventional ways bring the increases of product cost or the decreases of the power density. Therefore, this paper proposes new Spoke-Type BLDC Rotor shape that has the advantages of both conventional methods. The new shape is consists of a one-piece core. The inside and the outside of the rotor are open alternately. So it can take reduced production cost and high power density.

Keywords: motor, BLDC, spoke, ferrite

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Authors: Brock Buckingham, Zhe Lin, Wenxuan Guo

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Accurate elevation data is critical in deriving topographic attributes for the precision management of crop inputs, especially water and nutrients. Traditional ground-based elevation data acquisition is time consuming, labor intensive, and often inconvenient at the field scale. Various unmanned aerial systems (UAS) provide the capability of generating digital elevation data from high-resolution images. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of two UAS with different global positioning system (GPS) receivers in determining elevation at the field scale. A DJI Phantom 4 Pro and a DJI Phantom 4 RTK(real-time kinematic) were applied to acquire images at three heights, including 40m, 80m, and 120m above ground. Forty ground control panels were placed in the field, and their geographic coordinates were determined using an RTK GPS survey unit. For each image acquisition using a UAS at a particular height, two elevation datasets were generated using the Pix4D stitching software: a calibrated dataset using the surveyed coordinates of the ground control panels and an uncalibrated dataset without using the surveyed coordinates of the ground control panels. Elevation values for each panel derived from the elevation model of each dataset were compared to the corresponding coordinates of the ground control panels. The coefficient of the determination (R²) and the root mean squared error (RMSE) were used as evaluation metrics to assess the performance of each image acquisition scenario. RMSE values for the uncalibrated elevation dataset were 26.613 m, 31.141 m, and 25.135 m for images acquired at 120 m, 80 m, and 40 m, respectively, using the Phantom 4 Pro UAS. With calibration for the same UAS, the accuracies were significantly improved with RMSE values of 0.161 m, 0.165, and 0.030 m, respectively. The best results showed an RMSE of 0.032 m and an R² of 0.998 for calibrated dataset generated using the Phantom 4 RTK UAS at 40m height. The accuracy of elevation determination decreased as the flight height increased for both UAS, with RMSE values greater than 0.160 m for the datasets acquired at 80 m and 160 m. The results of this study show that calibration with ground control panels improves the accuracy of elevation determination, especially for the UAS with a regular GPS receiver. The Phantom 4 Pro provides accurate elevation data with substantial surveyed ground control panels for the 40 m dataset. The Phantom 4 Pro RTK UAS provides accurate elevation at 40 m without calibration for practical precision agriculture applications. This study provides valuable information on selecting appropriate UAS and flight heights in determining elevation for precision agriculture applications.

Keywords: unmanned aerial system, elevation, precision agriculture, real-time kinematic (RTK)

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Authors: Alon Friedman, Antonio Sanchez Chinchon

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This bibliometric study takes an artistic and storytelling approach to explore the term ”information visualization.” Analyzing over 1008 titles collected from databases that specialize in data visualization research, we examine the titles of these publications to report on the characteristics and development trends in the field. Employing a qualitative methodology, we delve into the titles of these publications, extracting leading terms and exploring the cooccurrence of these terms to gain deeper insights. By systematically analyzing the leading terms and their relationships within the titles, we shed light on the prevailing themes that shape the landscape of ”information visualization” by employing the artist Mark Lombardi’s techniques to visualize our findings. By doing so, this study provides valuable insights into bibliometrics visualization while also opening new avenues for leveraging art and storytelling to enhance data representation.

Keywords: bibliometrics analysis, Mark Lombardi design, information visualization, qualitative methodology

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Authors: Megan E. Davies

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With the intention of identifying cognitive processes uniquely involved in the dark triad personality traits of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism, this study aimed to determine further potential differences and parameters of individual traits by explaining a statistically significant amount of variance between the constructs of manipulativeness, impulsiveness, grit, and need for cognition within the dark triad. Applying a cross-sectional design, N = 96 participants self-reported using the MACH-IV, SRP-III, NFC-S, and Grit Scale for Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that only manipulativeness predicted Machiavellianism, whereas manipulativeness and impulsiveness were found to have predictive qualities for psychopathy. Overall, these results found areas of discrepancy and overlap between manipulation and impulsivity regarding psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Additionally, this study serves to preliminarily eliminate the Need for Cognition and grit as predictive variables for Machiavellianism and psychopathy.

Keywords: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, manipulation, impulsiveness, need for cognition, grit, dark triad

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Authors: Osifeko Olalekan Remigious, Osifeko Christiana Osikorede, Folarin Bolanle Eunice, Olugbenga Adebola Shodiya

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In this period of economic problem, nations are looking for avenues to improve their economy, preserve their environment and socio-political environment, educational institutions are not left out as there is the need for them to increase their economy and preserve their socio political environment. Sports is one of the ways through which sustainable development can be achieved. The purpose of this study was to examine the barriers to sports participation. A total of 1025 students were purposively selected from all the five schools in the College. A questionnaire which has a reliability coefficient of 0.71 was used for data collection. Data collected were subjected to the descriptive survey research design. Findings showed that facilities, funds and lectures schedule were significant barriers to sports participation. It was recommended that sports facilities should be provided by the Lagos State government.

Keywords: MOCPED sports, sustainable development, sports participation, state government

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Authors: Chabungbam Niranjit Khuman, Makarand Madhao Ghangrekar, Arunabha Mitra

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The cost of aeration is one of the limiting factors in the upscaling of microbial fuel cells (MFC) for field-scale applications. Wetland macrophytes have the ability to release oxygen into the water to maintain aerobic conditions in their root zone. In this experiment, the efficacy of rhizospheric oxygen release of wetland macrophytes as a source of oxygen in the cathodic chamber of MFC was conducted. The experiment was conducted in an MFC consisting of a three-liter anodic chamber made of ceramic cylinder and a 27 L cathodic chamber. Untreated carbon felts were used as electrodes (i.e., anode and cathode) and connected to an external load of 100 Ω using stainless steel wire. Wetland macrophytes (Canna indica) were grown in the cathodic chamber of the MFC in a hydroponic fashion using a styrofoam sheet (termed as macrophytes assisted-microbial fuel cell, M-MFC). The catholyte (i.e., water) in the M-MFC had negligible contact with atmospheric air due to the styrofoam sheet used for maintaining the hydroponic condition. There was no mixing of the catholyte in the M-MFC. Sucrose based synthetic wastewater having chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 3000 mg/L was fed into the anodic chamber of the MFC in fed-batch mode with a liquid retention time of four days. The C. indica thrived well throughout the duration of the experiment without much care. The average dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and pH value in the M-MFC were 3.25 mg/L and 7.07, respectively, in the catholyte. Since the catholyte was not in contact with air, the DO in the catholyte might be considered as solely liberated from the rhizospheric oxygen release of C. indica. The maximum COD removal efficiency of M-MFC observed during the experiment was 76.9%. The inadequacy of terminal electron acceptor in the cathodic chamber in M-MFC might have hampered the electron transfer, which in turn, led to slower specific microbial activity, thereby resulting in lower COD removal efficiency than the traditional MFC with aerated catholyte. The average operating voltage (OV) and open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 294 mV and 594 mV, respectively, were observed in M-MFC. The maximum power density observed during polarization was 381 mW/m³, and the maximum sustainable power density observed during the experiment was 397 mW/m³ in M-MFC. The maximum normalized energy recovery and coulombic efficiency of 38.09 Wh/m³ and 1.27%, respectively, were observed. Therefore, it was evidenced that rhizospheric oxygen release of wetland macrophytes (C. indica) was capable of sustaining the cathodic reaction in MFC for field-scale applications.

Keywords: hydroponic, microbial fuel cell, rhizospheric oxygen release, wetland macrophytes

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Authors: Abubakar Sulaiman

Abstract:

The paper examines how election observation influences electoral reforms in Nigeria. Over the years, election observation continues to play critical role in the electoral process specifically in Nigeria and Africa at large. Election observation keeps an eye on the electoral process and all the stakeholders during elections, to ensure that the process is fair to all contestants. While literature abound on this role of election observation on electoral process in Nigeria, scanty scholarly efforts have been made to appraise how election observation influences electoral reforms in Nigeria. Also, while election observation may play a role in ensuring that the electoral process is credible, specifically, its role in prvoking and eliciting various electoral reforms in the country has not been explored. The paper adopts the explanatory research design using secondary data and document analysis. Preliminary findings show that election observation has influenced electoral reforms in Nigeria in no small measure. The paper concludes that election observation is critical for result oriented electoral reforms in Nigeria, albeit, such reforms have to be implemented to the latter.

Keywords: electoral reforms, election observation, electoral process, developing country

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Authors: Meryem Aydin, Serdar Karadas, Ercan Ceyhan

Abstract:

The research was conducted to determine effects of salt concentrations on emergence of cowpea genotypes. Trials were performed during the year of 2014 on the laboratory of Agricultural Faculty, Selcuk University. Emergency trial was set up according to “Randomized Plots Design” by two factors and four replications with three replications. Samandag, Akkiz-86, Karnikara and Sarigobek cowpea genotypes have been used as trial material in this study. Effects of the five doses of salt concentrations (control, 30 mM, 60 mM, 90 mM and 120 mM) on the ratio of emergency, speed of emergency, average time for emergency, index of sensibility were evaluated. Responses of the cowpea genotypes for salt concentrations were found different. Comparing to the control, all of the investigated characteristics on the cowpea genotypes showed significant reduction by depending on the increasing salt application. According to the effects of salt application, the cowpea genotypes Samandag and Karnikara were the most tolerant in respect to index of sensibility while the Sarigobek genotypes was the most sensitive.

Keywords: cowpea, Vigna sinensis, emergence, salt tolerant

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Authors: Ousmane Youme, Jean Marie Dembele, Eugene Ezin, Christophe Cambier

Abstract:

In recent years, the convolutional neural networks (CNN) architectures designed by evolution algorithms have proven to be competitive with handcrafted architectures designed by experts. However, these algorithms need a lot of computational power, which is beyond the capabilities of most researchers and engineers. To overcome this problem, we propose an evolution architecture under length constraints. It consists of two algorithms: a search length strategy to find an optimal space and a search architecture strategy based on a genetic algorithm to find the best individual in the optimal space. Our algorithms drastically reduce resource costs and also keep good performance. On the Cifar-10 dataset, our framework presents outstanding performance with an error rate of 5.12% and only 4.6 GPU a day to converge to the optimal individual -22 GPU a day less than the lowest cost automatic evolutionary algorithm in the peer competition.

Keywords: CNN architecture, genetic algorithm, evolution algorithm, length constraints

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Authors: Heqian Zhao, Huaizhong Shi, Zhongwei Huang, Zhengliang Chen, Ziang Gu, Fei Gao

Abstract:

Hydraulics mechanics is significantly important in the drilling process of oil or gas exploration, especially for the drill bit. The fluid flows through the nozzles on the bit and generates a water jet to remove the cutting at the bottom hole. In this paper, a simplified bottom hole model is established. The Particle Image Velocimetric (PIV) is used to capture the flow field of the single nozzle. Due to the limitation of the bottom and wellbore, the potential core is shorter than that of the free water jet. The velocity magnitude rapidly attenuates when fluid close to the bottom is lower than about 5 mm. Besides, a vortex zone appears near the middle of the bottom beside the water jet zone. A modified exponential function can be used to fit the centerline velocity well. On the one hand, the results of this paper can provide verification for the numerical simulation of the bottom hole flow field. On the other hand, it also can provide an experimental basis for the hydraulic design of the drill bit.

Keywords: oil and gas, hydraulic mechanic of drilling, PIV, bottom hole

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Authors: Ricardo Merlo

Abstract:

The use of simulation as a digital didactic tool allowed students to reproduce the laws of Physics in order to improve their academic performance. The didactic resource of simulation also favored the motivation of most of the young people, depending on the subject of Physics to be developed in the classroom and in that sense, it was significant to know the favorable or unfavorable attitude that the students presented about the use of simulation resources to maximize the anchorage of the contents planned for the different classes developed in the classroom. The different real-time simulation applications that were offered free of charge through the Internet were not presented as a specific resource that could be used in a didactic model, and in that framework, the teachers of Physics at the university level did not apply these resources in a systematic way with the knowledge of the favorable or unfavorable attitude of the students towards these didactic resources. For this reason, this work proposed the design and application of attitude questionnaires to enhance the use of those simulation resources that allowed for improving the quality of the class and the academic performance of the students.

Keywords: physics teaching, attitude, motivation, didactic resources

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Authors: Hakim Aguedal, Abdelkader Iddou, Abdalla Aziz, Abdelhadi Bentouami, Ferhat Bensalah, Salah Bensadek

Abstract:

The major environmental risk of soil pollution is the contamination of groundwater by infiltration of organic and inorganic pollutants that can cause a serious pollution. To prevent the migration of this pollution through this structure, many studies propose the installation of layers, which play a role of a barrier that inhibiting the contamination of groundwater by limiting or slowing the flow of rainwater carrying pollution through the layers of soil. However, it is practically impossible to build a barrier layer that let through only water, but it is possible to design a structure with low permeability, which reduces the infiltration of dangerous pollutant. In an environmental context of groundwater protection, the main objective of this study was to investigate the environmental and appropriate suitability method to preserve groundwater, by establishment of a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) intermediate in soil. Followed the influence of several parameters allow us to find the most effective materials and the most appropriate way to incorporate this barrier in the soil.

Keywords: Ground water, protection, permeable reactive Barrier, soil pollution.

Procedia PDF Downloads 557