Search results for: % increase in life span

Authors: Tareq AlNuaim, Mubashir Alam, Abdulrazaq Aldowesh

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The usage of micro-Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) has witnessed an enormous increase recently. Detection of such drones became a necessity nowadays to prevent any harmful activities. Typically, such targets have low velocity and low Radar Cross Section (RCS), making them indistinguishable from clutter and phase noise. Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Radars have many potentials; it increases the degrees of freedom on both transmit and receive ends. Such architecture allows for flexibility in operation, through utilizing the direct access to every element in the transmit/ receive array. MIMO systems allow for several array processing techniques, permitting the system to stare at targets for longer times, which improves the Doppler resolution. In this paper, a 2×2 MIMO radar prototype is developed using Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology, and its performance is evaluated against a slow-moving low radar cross section micro-UAV used by hobbyists. Radar cross section simulations were carried out using FEKO simulator, achieving an average of -14.42 dBsm at S-band. The developed prototype was experimentally evaluated achieving more than 300 meters of detection range for a DJI Mavic pro-drone

Keywords: digital beamforming, drone detection, micro-UAV, MIMO, phased array

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Authors: Ahmad E. Aldousaria, Abdulla Al Kafy

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Urbanization is an incessant process that involves the transformation of land use/land cover (LULC), resulting in a reduction of cool land covers and thermal comfort zones (TCZs). This study explores the directional shrinkage of TCZs in Kuwait using Landsat satellite data from 1991 – 2021 to predict the future LULC and TCZ distribution for 2026 and 2031 using cellular automata (CA) and artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms. Analysis revealed a rapid urban expansion (40 %) in SE, NE, and NW directions and TCZ shrinkage in N – NW and SW directions with 25 % of the very uncomfortable area. The predicted result showed an urban area increase from 44 % in 2021 to 47 % and 52 % in 2026 and 2031, respectively, where uncomfortable zones were found to be concentrated around urban areas and bare lands in N – NE and N – NW directions. This study proposes an effective and sustainable framework to control TCZ shrinkage, including zero soil policies, planned landscape design, manmade water bodies, and rooftop gardens. This study will help urban planners and policymakers to make Kuwait an eco–friendly, functional, and sustainable country.

Keywords: land cover change, thermal environment, green cover loss, machine learning, remote sensing

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Authors: Marta Fernández Olmos, Ana Gargallo Castel, Alice Salami

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The literature has shown the importance of studying the issue of business survival in highly competitive environments. In particular, the wine sector has certain characteristics that make it interesting to study factors that increase the possibility of wineries' survival, such as individual productivity, winery size, age, innovation efforts or the maturity of the industry itself, among others. Due to the importance of these factors, this research aims to analyze whether the possibility of wineries' survival increases if they are family businesses or if there is gender diversity in senior management. To this end, a nationwide survey was carried out. The sample was made up of wineries from all the Spanish appellations of origin, using this sample to analyze the survival of the diverse types of wineries according to the factors to be studied. The main results indicate that family wineries survive longer, suggesting that this may be due to the fact that the main objective of family wineries is the continuity of the business in the long term. Regarding gender diversity, wineries that have a female presence in top roles in management, adding gender diversity, survive more than those with a predominantly male presence. Based on these results, it is advisable to consider the importance of family businesses, especially in this type of sector. In addition, support should be provided for the inclusion of a female labor force to improve the possibility of survival.

Keywords: gender, family business, wine industry, survival

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Authors: Seyed Hassan Moosa-kazemi, Jalal Mohammadi Soleimani, Hassan Vatandoost, Mohammad Hassan Shirazi, Sara Hajikhani, Roonak Bakhtiari, Morteza Akbari, Siamak Hydarzadeh

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Malaria is an infectious disease and considered most important health problems in the southeast of Iran. Iran is elimination malaria phase and new tool need to vector control. Paraterasgenesis is a new way to cut of life cycle of the malaria parasite. In this study, the microflora of the surface and gut of various stages of Anopheles fluviatilis James as one of the important malaria vector was studied using biochemical and molecular techniques during 2013-2014. Twelve bacteria species were found including; Providencia rettgeri, Morganella morganii, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, Citrobacter braakii، Citrobacter freundii، Aeromonas hydrophila، Klebsiella oxytoca, Citrobacter koseri, Serratia fonticola، Enterobacter sakazakii and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The species of Alcaligenes faecalis, Providencia vermicola and Enterobacter hormaechei were identified in various stages of the vector and confirmed by biochemical and molecular techniques. We found Providencia rettgeri proper candidate for paratransgenesis.

Keywords: Anopheles fluviatilis, bacteria, malaria, Paraterasgenesis, Southern Iran

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Authors: Rakiya Abba

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This paper investigates the effect of the money supply, exchange and interest rate on economic growth in Nigeria through the application of Augmented Dickey-Fuller technique in testing the unit root property of the series and Granger causality test of causation between GDP, money supply, the exchange, and interest rate. The results of unit root suggest that all the variables in the model are stationary at 1, 5 and 10 percent level of significance, and the results of Causality suggest that money supply and exchange granger cause IR, the result further reveals two – way causation existed between M2 and EXR while IR granger cause GDP the null hypothesis is rejected and GDP does not granger cause IR as indicated by their probability values of 0.4805 and confirmed by F-statistics values of 0.75483. The results revealed that M2 and EXR do not granger causes GDP, the null hypothesis is accepted at 75percent 18percent respectively as indicated by their probability values of 0.7472 and 0.1830 respectively; also, GDP does not granger cause M2 and EXR. The Johansen cointegration result indicates that despite GDP does not granger cause M2, IR, and EXR, but there existed 1 cointegrating equation, implying the existence of long-run relationship between GDP, M2 IR, and EXR. A major policy implication of this result is that economic growth is function of and money supply and exchange rate, effective monetary policies should direct on manipulating instruments and importance should be placed on justification for adopting a particular policy be rationalized in order to increase growth in economy

Keywords: economic growth, money supply, interest rate, exchange rate, causality

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Authors: Ibrahim Makram Ibrahim Salib

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Agriculture plays an essential role in providing food for the world's population. It also offers numerous benefits to countries, including non-food products, transportation, and environmental balance. Precision agriculture, which employs advanced tools to monitor variability and manage inputs, can help achieve these benefits. The increasing demand for food security puts pressure on decision-makers to ensure sufficient food production worldwide. To support sustainable agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be utilized to manage farms and increase yields. This paper aims to provide an understanding of UAV usage and its applications in agriculture. The objective is to review the various applications of UAVs in agriculture. Based on a comprehensive review of existing research, it was found that different sensors provide varying analyses for agriculture applications. Therefore, the purpose of the project must be determined before using UAV technology for better data quality and analysis. In conclusion, identifying a suitable sensor and UAV is crucial to gather accurate data and precise analysis when using UAVs in agriculture.

Keywords: agriculture land, agriculture land loss, Kabul city, urban land expansion, urbanization agriculture yield growth, agriculture yield prediction, explorative data analysis, predictive models, regression models drone, precision agriculture, farmer income

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Authors: Anifowose Oluwafemi Dele, Ngah Rohana, Hasni Abdulahi

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The economic crisis, which resulted in university funding cuts with an astronomically devastating impact on teaching and research around the world. Sequel to this, Nigerian universities are in disarray due to insufficient government funding and are under pressure to discover new financial streams of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to disentangle finance-related teething problems and most tangible means of outsourcing finance inclusively for the creation of more entrepreneurial ventures through the possibilities of prudent IGR management. To the best of our knowledge, one way to address this still-unknown or underappreciated cog is through the strategic use of IGR and the outsourcing of financing for the launch of entrepreneurial ventures. As a result, it is critical to investigate and evaluate financial inclusion through prudently managed IGR to achieve greater financial inclusion for more long-term entrepreneurial ventures. Justifying the need to look inward and devise mechanisms for strong instruments internal fund raising and managing cash inflows to benefit university entrepreneurial ventures to increase the University's IGR for the benefit of the university and its stakeholders. The paper concludes that University Managers must fully accept the use of genuine means of boosting IGR through financial inclusion of in-house funds to aggressively established IGR boosting and the creation of entrepreneurial ventures that could serve as an alternative to inadequate government funding.

Keywords: government funding, university managers, financial inclusion, entrepreneurial venture

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Authors: Peter Adekunle, Clinton Aigbavboa, Matthew Ikuabe, Opeoluwa Akinradewo

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The future of machine learning (ML) in building may seem like a distant idea that will take decades to materialize, but it is actually far closer than previously believed. In reality, the built environment has been progressively increasing interest in machine learning. Although it could appear to be a very technical, impersonal approach, it can really make things more personable. Instead of eliminating humans out of the equation, machine learning allows people do their real work more efficiently. It is therefore vital to evaluate the factors influencing the implementation and challenges of implementing machine learning techniques in the South African built environment. The study's design was one of a survey. In South Africa, construction workers and professionals were given a total of one hundred fifty (150) questionnaires, of which one hundred and twenty-four (124) were returned and deemed eligible for study. Utilizing percentage, mean item scores, standard deviation, and Kruskal-Wallis, the collected data was analyzed. The results demonstrate that the top factors influencing the adoption of machine learning are knowledge level and a lack of understanding of its potential benefits. While lack of collaboration among stakeholders and lack of tools and services are the key hurdles to the deployment of machine learning within the South African built environment. The study came to the conclusion that ML adoption should be promoted in order to increase safety, productivity, and service quality within the built environment.

Keywords: machine learning, implementation, built environment, construction stakeholders

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Authors: Saloni Diwakar, Hansika Kapoor

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The study undertook comparative analyses between 130 male and female managers in a power/electric company, relating to prevalent perceptions about gendered leadership, leadership efficacy, perceived organizational support, and diversity and inclusiveness. Results showed no significant difference in POS, leadership aspirations, expression, and self- and other leadership efficacy between male and female managers. However, within-groups analyses revealed that female managers reported a disparity between self and other leadership efficacy (value), to a far greater extent than male managers (value). Additionally, females reported a dip in POS during middle management, as compared to junior management, whereas men reported a steady increase in POS from junior, middle on to senior management. Descriptively, both men and women reported preferring gender neutral leadership traits, as compared to male or female centered traits, and both genders least preferred male centered leadership traits. Compared to women, male managers were found to significantly undervalue diversity and inclusion initiatives. Subjective feedback was elicited to corroborate quantitative output. Also, female participants provided subjective feedback regarding efficacy of existing D&I practices in the organization. Findings and implications are discussed relevant to existing gender inclusion agendas.

Keywords: gendered leadership, diversity, inclusivity, perceived organizational support

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Authors: Ahmad Mansoor Stanikzai, Yoshitaka Kajita

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This research is a very essential towards transportation planning of Kabul New City. In this research, the travel demand of Kabul metropolitan area (Existing and Kabul New City) are evaluated for three different target years (2015, current, 2025, mid-term, 2040, long-term). The outcome of this study indicates that, though currently the vehicle volume is less the capacity of existing road networks, Kabul city is suffering from daily traffic congestions. This is mainly due to lack of transportation management, the absence of proper policies, improper public transportation system and violation of traffic rules and regulations by inhabitants. On the other hand, the observed result indicates that the current vehicle to capacity ratio (VCR) which is the most used index to judge traffic status in the city is around 0.79. This indicates the inappropriate traffic condition of the city. Moreover, by the growth of population in mid-term (2025) and long-term (2040) and in the case of no development in the road network and transportation system, the VCR value will dramatically increase to 1.40 (2025) and 2.5 (2040). This can be a critical situation for an urban area from an urban transportation perspective. Thus, by introducing high-capacity public transportation system and the development of road network in Kabul New City and integrating these links with the existing city road network, significant improvements were observed in the value of VCR.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Kabul new city, planning, policy, urban transportation

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Authors: Nafisa Komilova, Plamena Angelova, Andrey Abramov, Ulugbek Mirkhodjaev

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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which is induced by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. The mechanism of neurodegeneration is associated with the aggregation of misfolded proteins, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial disfunction. Considering this, the process of removal of unwanted organelles or proteins by autophagy is vitally important in neurons, and activation of these processes could be protective in PD. Short-time acidification of cytosol can activate mitophagy and autophagy, and here we used sodium pyruvate and sodium lactate in human fibroblasts with PD mutations (Pink1, Pink1/Park2, α-syn triplication, A53T) to induce changes in intracellular pH. We have found that both lactate and pyruvate in millimolar concentrations can induce short-time acidification of cytosol in these cells. It induced activation of mitophagy and autophagy in control and PD fibroblasts and protected against cell death. Importantly, the application of lactate to acute brain slices of control and Pink1 knockout mice also induced a reduction of pH in neurons and astrocytes that increase the level of mitophagy. Thus, acidification of cytosol by compounds which play important role in cell metabolism also can activate mitophagy and autophagy and protect cells in the familial form of PD.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease, mutations, mitophagy, autophagy

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Authors: Zahra Zamanian, Alireza Zamanian, Jafar Hasanzadeh

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Background: Unwanted sound, as one of the most important physical factors in the majority of production units, imposes a great number of problems on the industrial workers. Sound is one of the environmental factors which can cause physical as well as psychological damages and also affects the individuals’ performance and productivity. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of noise exposure on human performance. Methods: The present study assessed the effect of noise on the performance of 50 students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (25 males and 25 females) at the sound pressures of 70, 90, and 110 dB by using two factors of physical features and the creation of different conditions of sound pressure source as well as applying Two-Arm coordination Test. Results: The results of the present study revealed no significant difference between male and female subjects as well as different conditions of creating sound pressure regarding the length of performance (p> 0.05). In addition, as the sound pressure increased, the length of performance increased, as well. According to the results, no significant difference was found between the performance at 70 and 90 dB. On the other hand, the performance at 110 dB was significantly different from the performance at 70 and 90 dB (p<0.05 and p<0.001). Conclusion: In general, as the sound pressure increases, the performance decreases which results in a considerable increase in the individuals’ rate of error.

Keywords: physical factors, two-arm coordination test, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, noise

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Authors: Aniket Ganvir, Ritarani Sahu, Suchismita Chinara

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The rapid digitization of various aspects of life is leading to the creation of smart IoT ecosystems, where interconnected devices generate significant amounts of valuable data. However, these IoT devices face constraints such as limited computational resources and bandwidth. Cloud computing emerges as a solution by offering ample resources for offloading tasks efficiently despite introducing latency issues, especially for time-sensitive applications like fog computing. Fog computing (FC) addresses latency concerns by bringing computation and storage closer to the network edge, minimizing data travel distance, and enhancing efficiency. Offloading tasks to fog nodes or the cloud can conserve energy and extend IoT device lifespan. The offloading process is intricate, with tasks categorized as full or partial, and its optimization presents an NP-hard problem. Traditional greedy search methods struggle to address the complexity of task offloading efficiently. To overcome this, the efficient crow search algorithm (ECSA) has been proposed as a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. ECSA aims to effectively optimize computation offloading, providing solutions to this challenging problem.

Keywords: IoT, fog computing, task offloading, efficient crow search algorithm

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Authors: Guo Yan

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Clothing recycling bin is a traditional way to collect textile waste in many areas. In the clothing recycling business, the transportation cost normally takes over 50% of total costs. This case gives a good way to reduce transportation cost by reverse logistics system. In this reverse logistics system, there are offline strategic alliance partners, such as transport firms, convenience stores, laundries, and post office which are integrated onto the mobile APP. Offline strategic alliance partners provide the service of textile waste collection, and transportation by their vacant vehicles return journey from convenience stores, laundries and post offices to sorting centers. The results of the case study provide the strategic alliance with a valuable and light - asset business model by using the logistics of offline memberships. The company in this case just focuses on textile waste sorting, reuse, recycling etc. The research method of this paper is a case study of a clothing recycling company in Chengdu by field research and interview; the analysis is based on the theory of the reverse logistics system.

Keywords: closed-loop recycles system, clothing recycling, end-of-life clothing, sharing economy, strategic alliance, reverse logistics.

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Authors: Esmaeil Zabihi, Seyed Hossein Alavi

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The purpose of this study is the review and prioritizes of sport-centered social capital on Islamic Azad university of Garmsar student’s tendency in sports activities, especially public sports based on Bourdieu viewpoint. 365 students at of 6254 students (3140 male and 3114 female) of Islamic Azad university of Garmsar branch were selected randomly, Morgan also used. 272 person answer questionnaire (with the help of specific questionnaires moeinaldini, 1391) it has 30 questions. Researchers have confirmed the validity of this questionnaire justifiability. Reliability was achieved through Cronbach's alpha 84%. The analysis of data done by, SPSS software and independent t-tests, friedman, u Mann Whitney, Kruskal Wallis test. friedman test showed below things : environmental dimension (MR=4.71) social and economic factors (MR=3.57) and family (MR=3.47). These factors have significant role on sports activities of students (P≤1.0). Also, comparison of these dimensions showed that the men believe to university (t-4.30) in increasing students participation. These results show that environment like (such as) governmental organization, going to the stadium and life environment is the most important factor which can effect on sport and body activities of the students.

Keywords: cultural capital, social capital, Bourdieu viewpoint, sport for all

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Authors: Khaled Sandjak, Boualem Tiliouine

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Structural analysis of flexible pavements has been and still is currently performed using multi-layer elastic theory. However, for thinly surfaced pavements subjected to low to medium volumes of traffics, the importance of non-linear stress-strain behaviour of unbound granular materials (UGM) requires the use of more sophisticated numerical models for structural design and performance of such pavements. In the present work, nonlinear unbound aggregates constitutive model is implemented within an axisymmetric finite element code developed to simulate the nonlinear behaviour of pavement structures including two local aggregates of different mineralogical nature, typically used in Algerian pavements. The performance of the mechanical model is examined about its capability of representing adequately, under various conditions, the granular material non-linearity in pavement analysis. In addition, deflection data collected by falling weight deflectometer (FWD) are incorporated into the analysis in order to assess the sensitivity of critical pavement design criteria and pavement design life to the constitutive model. Finally, conclusions of engineering significance are formulated.

Keywords: FWD backcalculations, finite element simulations, Nonlinear resilient behaviour, pavement response and performance, RLT test results, unbound granular materials

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Authors: H. Necef, A. Benayad

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Fungi are becoming more and more important in our life. Therefore, as a start for the symposium on filamentous fungi in biotechnology a short survey of the role of fungi in biotechnology. Salin soils occupy about 7% of land area; they are characterized by unsuitable physical conditions for the growth of living organisms. However, researches showed that some microorganisms especially fungi are able to grow and adapt to such extreme conditions; it is due to their ability to develop different physiological mechanisms in their adaptation. This is the first study on the physiological and biological characteristics of El-Beida marsh. Nine soil samples were taken at different points in two steps, the first was in winter (low temperature), and the second was in summer (high temperature). The physicochemical analyses of the soil were conducted, then the isolation process was applied using two methods, direct method and dilution method (10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4). Different species of fungi were identified belong to 21 genera in addition to 3 yeast species, Aspergillus showed the highest proportion by 43%, then Penicillium by 20% then Alternaria by 7%, in addition to various genera in different proportions. As for the sampling periods, it was observed that the spread of fungi in winter was higher than in summer with the proportion 75.47% and 24.53% respectively. Some halotolerant fungi have a biotechnological importance especially if the salinity of the medium is necessary for the fermentation, and if the halotolerance genes of the fungus will define, this will open the research to study and improve this property for the industrial important micro-organisms.

Keywords: salinity, identification, aspergillus oryzae, halotolerance, fungi

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Authors: Olivia Bory Devisme, Denis Genon-Catalot, Frederic Alicalapa, Pierre-Olivier Lucas De Peslouan, Jean-Pierre Chabriat

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In the context of climate change, it is essential that island territories gain energy autonomy. Currently mostly dependent on fossil fuels, the island of Reunion lo- cated in the Indian Ocean nevertheless has a high potential for solar energy. As the market for photovoltaic panels has been growing in recent years, the issues of energy losses linked to the multiple conversions from direct current to alternating current are emerging. In order to quantify these advantages and disadvantages by a comparative study, this document present the measurements carried out on a direct current test bench, particularly for lighting, ventilation, air condi- tioning and office equipment for the tertiary sector. All equipment is supplied with DC power from energy produced by photovoltaic panels. A weather sta- tion, environmental indoor sensors, and drivers are also used to control energy. Self-consumption is encouraged in order to manage different priorities between user consumption and energy storage in a lithium iron phosphate battery. The measurements are compared to a conventional electrical architecture (DC-AC- DC) for energy consumption, equipment overheating, cost, and life cycle analysis.

Keywords: DC microgrids, solar energy, smart buildings, storage

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Authors: Iulia Elena Gîță

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According to the sociological theory of literature, constraints on the creation and share of cultural works can be placed between two extremes: one with a high level of politicization and the other with a high level of commercialization. The overall objective of the present research is to follow the principles of Sociology of Translation to closely map and analyse the publishing activity of Romania concerning China and Chinese literature during four stages of Romanian history between 1948-2018. This paper proposes, thus, an extended approach to literature, to its cultural, political and economic reception. In achieving the proposed objectives, the research expands far beyond the literary text itself, to its macro context, analysing, through quantitative research methods, a statistical database created based on two phases - the first part containing literary and non-fictional works that address and discuss issues related to China; the second part includes literary translations of Chinese literature into Romanian, either by direct translation or by an intermediate language. Throughout this paper we will map not only the number of works, but also the topics approached by writers along the two periods of the political life of Romania.

Keywords: bilateral relations, Chinese literature, intercultural understanding, international relations, socio-cultural reception, socio-political constraints, publishing

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Authors: T. L. Granzyk, S. Scarborough, J. DeCosmo

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The use of health-related or medical narratives has gained increasing anecdotal and research-based support as a successful device for changing health behavior and outcomes. These narratives, in the form of oral storytelling, short films, and educational documentaries, for example, are most effective when including empathetic characters that transport viewers into the story and command both their attention and emotional response. This case study outlines how and why one large health system created a short narrative film for their internal Sepsis Awareness campaign, which told the dramatic story of a patient recovering from a missed sepsis diagnosis, leaving her a quad-amputee. Results include positive global anecdotal response to the film from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as use of the film to support legislation, ultimately passed in favor of the formation of Sepsis Awareness Workgroups in Maryland. Authors conclude that narrative films can be used successfully to initiate healthcare legislation and to increase internal and external awareness of health-related areas in need of greater improvement and support. As such, healthcare leaders and stakeholders would benefit from learning how to intentionally create, cultivate, and curate narratives from within their own health systems that elicit an empathetic response.

Keywords: healthcare policy, healthcare narratives, sepsis awareness, short films

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Authors: Santiranjan Shannigrahi, Mohit Sharma, Ivan Tan Chee Kiang, Yong Anna Marie

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Polymer-ceramics composites are gaining importance due to their high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and high mechanical properties, as well as low cost. As a result, polymer composites are suitable for various industrial applications, like automobiles, aerospace, and biomedical areas. The present work comprises the development of polymer-ceramic composite films and is tested for the harsh environment including weatherability and UV barrier property. The polymer composite films are kept in weather chamber for a fixed period of time followed by tested for their physical, mechanical and chemical properties. The composite films are fabricated using compounding followed by hot pressing. UV-visible spectroscopy results reveal that the pure polymer polyethylene (PE) films are transparent in the visible range and do not absorb UV. However, polymer ceramic composite films start absorbing UV completely even at very low filler loading amount of 5 wt.%. The changes in tensile properties of the various composite films before and after UV illuminations for 40 hrs at 60 degC are analyzed. The tensile strength of neat PE film has been observed 8% reduction, whereas the remarkable increase in tensile strength has been observed (18% improvement for 10 wt. % filled composites films). The UV exposure leads to strengthen the crosslinking among PE polymer chains in the filled composite films, which contributes towards the incremented tensile strength properties.

Keywords: polymer ceramic composite, processing, harsh environment, mechanical properties

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Authors: Kai Yip Michael Tsang

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Science writing has played a crucial part in science assessments. This paper reports a study in an area that has received little research attention – how Language across the Curriculum (LAC, i.e. science language and literacy) learning activities in science lessons can increase the science knowledge development of English as a foreign language (EFL) students in Hong Kong. The data comes from a school-based interventional study in chemistry classrooms, with written data from questionnaires, assessments and teachers’ logs and verbal data from interviews and classroom observations. The effectiveness of the LAC teaching and learning activities in various chemistry classrooms were compared and evaluated, with discussion of some implications. Students in the treatment group with lower achieving students received LAC learning and teaching activities while students in the control group with higher achieving students received conventional learning and teaching activities. After the study, they performed better in control group in formative assessments. Moreover, they had a better attitude to learning chemistry content with a richer language support. The paper concludes that LAC teaching and learning activities yielded positive learning outcomes among chemistry learners with low English ability.

Keywords: science learning and teaching, content and language integrated learning, language across the curriculum, English as a foreign language

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Authors: Chong Wang, Kellem M. Soares, Luis E. Kosteski

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The problem of toughening in brittle materials reinforced by fibers is complex, involving all the mechanical properties of fibers, matrix, the fiber/matrix interface, as well as the geometry of the fiber. An appropriate method applicable to the simulation and analysis of toughening is essential. In this work, we performed simulations and analysis of toughening in brittle matrix reinforced by randomly distributed fibers by means of the discrete elements method. At first, we put forward a mechanical model of the contribution of random fibers to the toughening of composite. Then with numerical programming, we investigated the stress, damage and bridging force in the composite material when a crack appeared in the brittle matrix. From the results obtained, we conclude that: (i) fibers with high strength and low elasticity modulus benefit toughening; (ii) fibers with relatively high elastic modulus compared to the matrix may result in considerable matrix damage (spalling effect); (iii) employment of high-strength synthetic fiber is a good option. The present work makes it possible to optimize the parameters in order to produce advanced ceramic with desired performance. We believe combination of the discrete element method (DEM) with the finite element method (FEM) can increase the versatility and efficiency of the software developed.

Keywords: bridging stress, discrete element method, fiber reinforced composites, toughening

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Authors: R. Litt, A. Brown

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Aims: We aimed to assess the efficiency of ‘Attend Anywhere’ orthodontic clinics within a district general hospital during COVID- 19. Our secondary aim was to pilot a questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction with virtual orthodontic appointments. Design: The study design is a service evaluation including pilot questionnaire. Methods: The average number of patients seen per virtual clinic and the number of patients failing to attend was compared to face-to-face clinics. The capability of virtual appointments to be successful in preventing the need for a face-to-face appointment was assessed. Patients were invited to complete a telephone pilot questionnaire focusing on patient satisfaction and accessibility. Results: There was a small increase in the number of patients failing to attend virtual appointments, with a third of the patients who did not attend failing to receive the appointment link. 81.9% of virtual clinic appointments were successful and prevented the need for a face-to-face appointment. Overall patients were very satisfied with their virtual orthodontic appointment and the majority required no assistance to access the service. Conclusions: The use of ‘Attend Anywhere’ clinics in orthodontics offers patients and clinicians an effective and efficient alternative to face-to-face appointments that patients on average find easy to use and completely satisfactory.

Keywords: clinics, COVID, orthodontics, patient satisfaction, virtual

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Authors: Mohammed Elsayed Lotfy Elsayed Abouzeid, Tomonobu Senjyu

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A novel multi-objective park and ride control approach is presented in this research. Park and ride will encourage the owners of the vehicles to leave their cars in the nearest points (on the edges of the crowded cities) and use public transportation facilities (train, bus, metro, or mon-rail) to reach their work inside the crowded city. The proposed control scheme is used to design electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) to charge 1000 electric vehicles (EV) during their owners' work time. Cairo, Egypt is used as a case study. Photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) are used to meet the EVCS demand. Two multi-objective optimization techniques (MOGA and epsilon-MOGA) are utilized to get the optimal sizes of PV and BESS so as to meet the load demand and minimize the total life cycle cost. Detailed analysis and comparison are held to investigate the performance of the proposed control scheme using MATLAB.

Keywords: Battery Energy Storage System, Electric Vehicle, Park and Ride, Photovoltaic, Multi-objective

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Authors: M. Nikafrooz, J. Darsareh

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its impacts on education all over the world and the problems arising from the use of traditional methods in education, it was necessary to apply alternative solutions to achieve educational goals. In this regard, electronic content production through screen recording and giving educational services in virtual classes became popular among many teachers. But the production of screen recorded videos involves special technical and educational considerations so that educators could be able to produce valuable and well-made videos by taking those considerations into account. The purpose of this study was to extract and find the technical and educational considerations of producing screen recorded videos to provide a useful and comprehensive guideline for e-content producers to enable them to produce high-quality educational videos. This study is fundamental research and data collection has been done using the Delphi method. In this research, an attempt has been made to provide the necessary criteria and considerations regarding the design and production of screen recorded videos by studying the literatures, identifying and analyzing learners' and teachers' needs and expectations, reviewing the previously produced videos. The results of these studies led to the finding and extracting 129 indicators in the form of 6 criteria. Such considerations are expected to reduce production and editing time, increase the technical and educational quality, and finally facilitating and enhancing the processes of teaching and learning.

Keywords: e-content, screen recorded videos, screen recording software, technical and pedagogical considerations

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Authors: Kholil, Ario Bimo, Hifni Alifahmi, Soecahyadi, Husen Money

Abstract:

The number of smokers in Indonesia currently reached 66 million (25.09%) of the total number of smokers reaching 264 million. The government (central and local governments) have issued various rules to reduce the number of smokers, but the results are still not effective; in fact, the number of smokers continues to increase every year. This study aims to determine the influence of demographics, economy, health, and the role of government on the awareness of smokers in reducing the dangers of cigarettes. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire distributed to 255 randomly selected respondents and data analysis using SEM (Structural Equation Model). The results of the analysis show that economic and socio-cultural factors do not directly affect the awareness of reducing the dangers of cigarettes. But indirectly, its influence becomes significant through intervening variables of communication strategies. Meanwhile, health factors and the government's role have a very significant influence both directly and indirectly on reducing the dangers of cigarettes. Thus, the main strategy to build awareness of smokers in reducing the dangers of smoking is building an effective communication strategy through three main factors: (1) health, (2) government regulations and (3) the economy.

Keywords: harm reduction, awareness, communication strategy, SEM

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Authors: Ajibola O. Akinrinde, Andrew Swanson, Remy Tiako

Abstract:

There exist significant losses on transmission lines due to distance, as power generating stations could be located far from some isolated settlements. Standalone wind farms could be a good choice of alternative power generation for such settlements that are far from the grid due to factors of long distance or socio-economic problems. However, uncompensated wind farms consume reactive power since wind turbines are induction generators. Therefore, capacitor banks are used to compensate reactive power, which in turn improves the voltage profile of the network. Although capacitor banks help improving voltage profile, they also undergo switching actions due to its compensating response to the variation of various types of load at the consumer’s end. These switching activities could cause transient overvoltage on the network, jeopardizing the end-life of other equipment on the system. In this paper, the overvoltage caused by these switching activities is investigated using the IEEE bus 14-network to represent a standalone wind farm, and the simulation is done using ATP/EMTP software. Scenarios involving the use of pre-insertion resistor and pre-insertion inductor, as well as controlled switching was also carried out in order to decide the best mitigation option to reduce the overvoltage.

Keywords: capacitor banks, IEEE bus 14-network, pre-insertion resistor, standalone wind farm

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Authors: Pawit Tangviroon, Apichit Svang-Ariyaskul

Abstract:

Rubber seed oil is an attractive alternative feedstock for biodiesel production because it is not related to food-chain plant. Rubber seed oil contains large amount of free fatty acids, which causes problem in biodiesel production. Free fatty acids can react with alkaline catalyst in biodiesel production. Acid esterification is used as pre-treatment to convert unwanted compound to desirable biodiesel. Phase separation of oil and methanol occurs at low ratio of methanol to oil and causes low reaction rate and conversion. Acid esterification requires large excess of methanol in order to increase the miscibility of methanol in oil and accordingly, it is a more expensive separation process. In this work, the kinetics of esterification of rubber seed oil with methanol is developed from available experimental results. Reactive distillation process was designed by using Aspen Plus program. The effects of operating parameters such as feed ratio, molar reflux ratio, feed temperature, and feed stage are investigated in order to find the optimum conditions. Results show that the reactive distillation process is proved to be better than conventional process. It consumes less feed methanol and less energy while yielding higher product purity than the conventional process. This work can be used as a guideline for further development to industrial scale of biodiesel production using reactive distillation.

Keywords: biodiesel, reactive distillation, rubber seed oil, transesterification

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Authors: Mookyada Mankrut, Manit Nithitanakul

Abstract:

An increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emission has been a concerned problem so far. Adsorption using porous materials is feasible way to reduce the content of CO2 emission into the atmosphere due to several advantages: low energy consumption in regeneration process, low-cost raw materials and, high CO2 adsorption capacity. In this work, the porous poly(divinylbenzene) (poly(DVB)) support was synthesized under high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) polymerization then modified with polyethyleneimine (PEI) by using solution plasma process. These porous polymers were then used as adsorbents for CO2 adsorption study. All samples were characterized by some techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), water contact angle measurement and, surface area analyzer. The results of FT-IR and a decrease in contact angle, pore volume and, surface area of PEI-loaded materials demonstrated that surface of poly(DVB) support was modified. In other words, amine groups were introduced to poly(DVB) surface. In addition, not only the outer surface of poly(DVB) adsorbent was modified, but also the inner structure as shown by FT-IR study. As a result, PEI-loaded materials exhibited higher adsorption capacity, comparing with those of the unmodified poly(DVB) support.

Keywords: polyHIPEs, CO2 adsorption, solution plasma process, high internal phase emulsion

Procedia PDF Downloads 260