Search results for: net present cost (NPC)

Authors: Ghofrane Rehaiem, Hamza Gharsellaoui, Samir Benahmed

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In this study, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were used for modeling the parameters that allow the real-time scheduling of embedded systems under resources constraints designed for real-time applications running. The objective of this work is to implement a neural networks based approach for real-time scheduling of embedded systems in order to handle real-time constraints in execution scenarios. In our proposed approach, many techniques have been proposed for both the planning of tasks and reducing energy consumption. In fact, a combination of Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) and time feedback can be used to scale the frequency dynamically adjusting the operating voltage. Indeed, we present in this paper a hybrid contribution that handles the real-time scheduling of embedded systems, low power consumption depending on the combination of DVS and Neural Feedback Scheduling (NFS) with the energy Priority Earlier Deadline First (PEDF) algorithm. Experimental results illustrate the efficiency of our original proposed approach.

Keywords: optimization, neural networks, real-time scheduling, low-power consumption

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Authors: Mona Hajirasouli

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Abstract: introduction: Antimicrobial compounds are important in the first line of the host defense system of many animal species. Material and methods: In the present study antibacterial activity of crude and proteins precipitate of hemolymph and crude hepatopancreas extracts from Portunus segnis and Grapsus albolineatus against a range of 6 different bacterial strains evaluated. Amoxicillin as a positive control were also used. Results: Maximum activity (15.9 mm) was recorded in male haemolymph of p.segnis against Entrobacter and minimum activity (7 mm) was recorded against Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter sp. and Proteus mirabilis from different extracts of Grapsus albolineatus. Data were analyzed using independent-t in SPSS version 16, and results indicate that there were not any significant differences between hemolymph and hepatopancreas extracts of 2 species. Discussion: Antimicrobial activity has been reported earlier in the hemolymph of some brachyuran crabs such as: blue crab Callinectes sapidus, mud crab Scylla serrata, Ocypode macrocera and Carcinus maenas. This study shows that hemolymph and hepatopancreas of Portunus segnis and Grapsus albolineatus may potential antibiotics.

Keywords: brachyuran, Portunus segnis, Grapsus albolineatus, hemolymph, hepatopancreas, antibacterial

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Authors: Changyin Zhou

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Verb-argument relation is a very important aspect of syntax-semantics interaction in sentence processing. Previous ERP (event related potentials) studies in this field mainly concentrated on the relation between the verb and its core arguments. The present study aims to reveal the ERP pattern of Chinese pseudo-object structures (SOSs), in which a peripheral argument is promoted to occupy the position of the patient object, as compared with the patient object structures (POSs). The ERP data were collected when participants were asked to perform acceptability judgments about Chinese phrases. Our result shows that, similar to the previous studies of number-of-argument violations, Chinese SOSs show a bilaterally distributed N400 effect. But different from all the previous studies of verb-argument relations, Chinese SOSs demonstrate a sustained anterior positivity (SAP). This SAP, which is the first report related to complexity of argument structure operation, reflects the integration difficulty of the newly promoted arguments and the progressive nature of well-formedness checking in the processing of Chinese SOSs.

Keywords: Chinese pseudo-object structures, ERP, sustained anterior positivity, verb-argument relation

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Authors: M. T. Amina, A. A. Alazba, U. Manzoor

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Solar disinfection (SODIS) is a viable method for household water treatment and is recommended by the World Health Organization as cost effective approach that can be used without special skills. The efficiency of both SODIS and solar collector disinfection (SOCODIS) system was evaluated using four different sources of water including stored rainwater, storm water, ground water and treated sewage. Samples with naturally occurring microorganisms were exposed to sunlight for about 8-9 hours in 2-L polyethylene terephthalate bottles under similar experimental conditions. Total coliform (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) were used as microbial water quality indicators for evaluating the disinfection efficiency at different sunlight intensities categorized as weak, mild and strong weathers. Heterotrophic bacteria showed lower inactivation rates compared to E. coli and TC in both SODIS and SOCODIS system. The SOCODIS system at strong weather was the strongest disinfection system in this study and the complete inactivation of HPC was observed after 8-9 hours of exposure with SODIS being ineffective for HPC. At moderate weathers, however, the SOCODIS system did not show complete inactivation of HPC due to very high concentrations (up to 5x10^7 CFU/ml) in both storm water and treated sewage. SODIS even remained ineffective for the complete inactivation of E. coli due to its high concentrations of about 2.5x10^5 in treated sewage compared with other waters even after 8-9 hours of exposure. At weak weather, SODIS was not effective at all while SOCODIS system, though incomplete, showed good disinfection efficiency except for HPC and to some extent for high E. coli concentrations in storm water. Largest reduction of >5 log occurred for TC when used stored rainwater even after 6 hours of exposure in the case of SOCODIS system at strong weather. The lowest E. coli and HPC reduction of ~2 log was observed in SODIS system at weak weather. Further tests with varying pH and turbidity are required to understand the effects of reaction parameters that could be a step forward towards maximizing the disinfection efficiency of such systems for the complete inactivation of naturally occurring E. coli or HPC at moderate or even at weak weathers.

Keywords: efficiency, microbial, SODIS, SOCODIS, weathers

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Authors: Ines Zemni, Maher Slimane, Jamel Ben Hassouna, Khaled Rahal

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Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disease, which is associated with an increased risk of developing different malignancies including breast cancer. The association between NF1 band breast sarcoma is a rare entity. Herein we present a 25-year-old woman with NF1 who had fibrosarcoma of the left breast. Case presentation: The patient has multiple thoraco-abdominal 'café au lait' spots. Clinical examination showed a lump of the left breast measuring 9 cm of diameter, which was noticed for 6 months. There was a left inguinal mass of 6 cm of diameter. The patient underwent first a left lumpectomy. Histopathological exam revealed a high-grade fibrosarcoma of the left breast measuring 7.5 cm. Three months later, the patient underwent a left mastectomy and excision of the inguinal mass, which was a neurofibroma. An adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy were indicated, but not applied because of the timeout. The patient is now alive after a follow up of 6 years, with no loco-regional recurrence or metastasis. Conclusion: The relationship between NF1 and breast cancer need to be more clarified by further studies. Establishing a specific screening program of these patients may help to make an earlier diagnosis of breast cancer.

Keywords: neurofibromatosis, breast, sarcoma, cancer

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Authors: Mohsen Torabi, Kaili Zhang

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This work considers forced convection in a channel partially filled with porous media from local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) point of view. The channel is heated with constant heat flux from the lower side and is isolated on the top side. The wall heat flux is considered to be divided between the solid and fluid phases based on their temperature gradients and effective thermal conductivities. The general forms of the velocity and temperature fields are analytically obtained. To obtain the constant parameters for temperature equations, a numerical solution is considered. Using different thermophysical parameters, both velocity and temperature fields are comprehensively illustrated. Discussions regarding bifurcation phenomenon are provided. Since this geometry has not been considered yet, the present analysis is a useful addition to the literature on thermal performance of porous systems from LTNE perspective.

Keywords: local thermal non-equilibrium, forced convection, thermal bifurcation, porous-fluid interface, combined analytical-numerical solution

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Authors: Abder-Rahman Ali, Antoine Vacavant, Manuel Grand-Brochier, Adélaïde Albouy-Kissi, Jean-Yves Boire

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In this paper, we present a new segmentation approach for liver lesions in regions of interest within MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). This approach, based on a two-cluster Fuzzy C-Means methodology, considers the parameter variable compactness to handle uncertainty. Fine boundaries are detected by a local recursive merging of ambiguous pixels with a sequential forward floating selection with Zernike moments. The method has been tested on both synthetic and real images. When applied on synthetic images, the proposed approach provides good performance, segmentations obtained are accurate, their shape is consistent with the ground truth, and the extracted information is reliable. The results obtained on MR images confirm such observations. Our approach allows, even for difficult cases of MR images, to extract a segmentation with good performance in terms of accuracy and shape, which implies that the geometry of the tumor is preserved for further clinical activities (such as automatic extraction of pharmaco-kinetics properties, lesion characterization, etc).

Keywords: defuzzification, floating search, fuzzy clustering, Zernike moments

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Authors: Biva Samadder, Samita Manna

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India is a melting pot of races, tribes, castes and communities. The population of India can be roughly branched into the huge majority of “Civilized” Indians of the Plains and the minority of Tribal population of the hill area and the forest who constituting almost 16 percent of total population of India. The Kirat community composed of four ethnic tribes: Limbu, Lepcha, Dhimal, and Rai. These Kirat people were found to be rich in indigenous knowledge, skill and practices especially for the use on medicinal plants and livelihood purposes. The “Mundhum" is the oral scripture or the “Bible of the Limbus” which serves as the canon of the codes of the Limbu socialization, their moral values and the very orientation of their lifestyle. From birth till death the Limbus are disciplined in the life with full of religious rituals, traditions and culture governed by community norms with a rich legacy of indigenous knowledge and traditional practices. The present study has been conducted using both secondary as well as primary data by applying social methodology consisting of the social survey, questionnaire, interviews and observations in the Kalimpong Block-I of Darjeeling District of west Bengal of India, which is a heterogeneous zone in terms of its ethnic composition and where the Limbus are pre-dominantly concentrated. Due to their close contact with other caste and communities Limbus are now adjusted with the changing situation by borrowing some cultural traits from the other communities and changes that have taken place in their cultural practices, religious beliefs, economic aspects, languages and in social roles and relationships which is bringing the change in their material culture. Limbu language is placed in the Tibeto- Burman Language category. But due to the political and cultural domination of educationally sound and numerically dominant Bengali race, the different communities in this area forced to come under the one umbrella of the Nepali or Gorkhali nation (nation-people). Their respective identities had to be submerged in order to constitute as a strong force to resist Nepali domination and ensure their common survival. As Nepali is a lingua-franca of the area knowing and speaking Nepali language helps them in procuring economic and occupational facilities. Ironically, present day younger generation does not feel comfortable speaking in their own Limbu tongue. The traditional knowledge about medicinal plants, healing, and health culture is found to be wear away due to the lack of interest of young generation. Not only poverty, along with exclusion due to policies they are in the phase of extinction, but their capabilities are ignored and not documented and preserved especially in the case of Limbus who having a great cultural heritage of an oral tradition. Attempts have been made to discuss the persistence and changes in socioeconomic pattern of life in relation to the social structure, material culture, cultural practices, social relationships, indigenous technology, ethos and their values and belief system.

Keywords: changing social relationship, cultural transition, identity, indigenous knowledge, language

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Authors: Mark P. Mayala, Henry Mayala, Khuzeima Khanbhai

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Background: Heart failure has been a rising concern in Tanzania. New drugs have been introduced, including the group of drugs called Angiotensin receptor Neprilysin Inhibitor (ARNI), but due to their high cost, angiotensin-converting enzymes inhibitors (ACEIs) and Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have been mostly used in Tanzania. However, according to our knowledge, the efficacy comparison of the two groups is yet to be studied in Tanzania. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of ACEIs and ARBs among patients with heart failure. Methodology: This was a hospital-based prospective cohort study done at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institution (JKCI), Tanzania, from June to December 2020. Consecutive enrollment was done until fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Clinical details were measured at baseline. We assessed the relationship between ARBs and ACEIs users with N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) levels at admission and at 1-month follow-up using a chi-square test. A Kaplan-Meier curve was used to estimate the survival time of the two groups. Results: 155 HF patients were enrolled, with a mean age of 48 years, whereby 52.3% were male, and their mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 37.3%. 52 (33.5%) heart failure patients were on ACEIs, 57 (36.8%) on ARBs, and 46 (29.7%) were neither using ACEIs nor ARBs. At least half of the patients did not receive a guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), with only 82 (52.9%) receiving a GDMT. A drop in NT pro-BNP levels was observed during admission and at 1-month follow-up on both groups, from 6389.2 pg/ml to 4000.1 pg/ml for ARB users and 5877.7 pg/ml to 1328.2 pg/ml for the ACEIs users. There was no statistical difference between the two groups when estimated by the Kaplan-Meier curve, though more deaths were observed in those who were neither on ACEIs nor ARBs, with a calculated P value of 0.01. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that ACEIs have more efficacy and overall better clinical outcome than ARBs, but this should be taken under the patient-based case, considering the side effects of ACEIs and patients’ adherence.

Keywords: angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, guideline direct medical therapy, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide

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Authors: Wahid Terro, Miray Terro, Franco Lugnani

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Roughly 90% of mouth cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. Oral region metastases are considered uncommon. The most frequent sources of metastatic tumors to the mouth are primary cancers from the lung and breast with the latter being the most common site for tumors that metastasize to the jawbones. Treatment involves surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these. However, these treatment modalities entail severe aesthetic and functional side effects. This article aims to present an alternative and unprecedented treatment modality for metastatic mandibular bone carcinoma – Cryosurgery. A 37-year-old female patient presented with gradually increasing pain over several weeks whose radiological tests revealed a formation of mass in the left mandibular ramus. A biopsy obtained by bone puncture of the ramus was reported to be metastatic breast squamous cell carcinoma. The patient has been successfully treated without esthetic and functional side effects by using for the first-time worldwide cryosurgery. We conclude that it is value promoting this method for current and future use.

Keywords: carcinoma, mandible, metastasis, breast

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Authors: Harsh Agarwal, Pratikkumar Patel, Maharshi Pathak

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Recently the low prices of Crude oil and increase in strict environmental regulations limit limits the use of diesel based muds as these muds are relatively costlier and toxic, as a result disposal of cuttings into the eco-system is a major issue faced by the drilling industries. To overcome these issues faced by the Oil Industry, an attempt has been made to develop oil-in-water emulsion mud system using nettlespurge oil. Nettlespurge oil could be easily available and its cost is around ₹30/litre which is about half the price of diesel in India. Oil-based mud (OBM) was formulated with Nettlespurge oil extracted from Nettlespurge seeds using the Soxhlet extraction method. The formulated nettlespurge oil mud properties were analysed with diesel oil mud properties. The compared properties were rheological properties, yield point and gel strength, and mud density and filtration loss properties, fluid loss and filter cake. The mud density measurement showed that nettlespurge OBM was slightly higher than diesel OBM with mud density values of 9.175 lb/gal and 8.5 lb/gal, respectively, at barite content of 70 g. Thus it has a higher lubricating property. Additionally, the filtration loss test results showed that nettlespurge mud fluid loss volumes, oil was 11 ml, compared to diesel oil mud volume of 15 ml. The filtration loss test indicated that the nettlespurge oil mud with filter cake thickness of 2.2 mm had a cake characteristic of thin and squashy while the diesel oil mud resulted in filter cake thickness of 2.7 mm with cake characteristic of tenacious, rubbery and resilient. The filtration loss test results showed that nettlespurge oil mud fluid loss volumes was much less than the diesel based oil mud. The filtration loss test indicated that the nettlespurge oil mud filter cake thickness less than the diesel oil mud filter cake thickness. So Low formation damage and the emulsion stability effect was analysed with this experiment. The nettlespurge oil-in-water mud system had lower coefficient of friction than the diesel oil based mud system. All the rheological properties have shown better results relative to the diesel based oil mud. Therefore, with all the above mentioned factors and with the data of the conducted experiment we could conclude that the Nettlespurge oil based mud is economically and well as eco-logically much more feasible than the worn out and shabby diesel-based oil mud in the Drilling Industry.

Keywords: economical feasible, ecological feasible, emulsion stability, nettle spurge oil, rheological properties, soxhlet extraction method

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Authors: Sunila John, B. Rajashekhar

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Initial letter fluency tasks are one of the simple behavioral measures to evaluate the complex nature of word retrieval ability. This task requires the participant to retrieve as many words as possible beginning with a particular letter in a fixed time frame. Though the task of verbal fluency is popular among adult clinical conditions, its role in children has been less emphasized. There exists a lack of in-depth understanding of processes underlying verbal fluency performance in typically developing children. The present study, therefore, aims to delineate the developmental trend on initial letter fluency task observed in typically developing Malayalam speaking children. The participants were aged between 5 to 10 years and categorized into three groups: Group I (class I and II, mean (SD) age years: 6.44(.78)), Group II (class III and IV, mean (SD) age years: 8.59 (.83)) and group III (class V and VI, mean (SD) age years: 10.28 (.80). On two tasks of initial letter fluency, the verbal fluency outcome measures were analyzed. The study findings revealed a distinct pattern of initial letter fluency development which may enhance its usefulness in clinical and research settings.

Keywords: children, development, initial letter fluency, word retrieval

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Authors: Ahsan Ali, Mayank Ostwal, Nikhil Agarwal

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Abstract—According to a World Bank report, millions of people across the globe still do not have access to improved water services. With uninterrupted growth of cities and urban inhabitants, there is a mounting need to safeguard the sustainable expansion of cities. Efficient functioning of the urban components and high living standards of the residents are needed to be ensured. The water and sanitation network of an urban development is one of its most essential parts of its critical infrastructure. The growth in urban population is leading towards increased water demand, and thus, the local water resources are severely strained. 'Smart water' is referred to water and waste water infrastructure that is able to manage the limited resources and the energy used to transport it. It enables the sustainable consumption of water resources through co-ordinate water management system, by integrating Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, intended at maximizing the socioeconomic benefits without compromising the environmental values. This paper presents a case study from a medium sized city in North-western Pakistan. Currently, water is getting contaminated due to the proximity between water and sewer pipelines in the study area, leading to public health issues. Due to unsafe grey water infiltration, the scarce ground water is also getting polluted. This research takes into account the design of smart urban water network by integrating ICT (Information and Communication Technology) with urban water network. The proximity between the existing water supply network and sewage network is analyzed and a design of new water supply system is proposed. Real time mapping of the existing urban utility networks will be projected with the help of GIS applications. The issue of grey water infiltration is addressed by providing sustainable solutions with the help of locally available materials, keeping in mind the economic condition of the area. To deal with the current growth of urban population, it is vital to develop new water resources. Hence, distinctive and cost effective procedures to harness rain water would be suggested as a part of the research study experiment.

Keywords: GIS, smart water, sustainability, urban water management

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Authors: Wen-Bin Chiou, Hsiao-Chiao Weng

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Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter are low-cost tools that can promote the creation of social connections by providing a convenient platform that can be accessed at any time. In the current research, a laboratory experiment was conducted test the hypothesis that reminders of losing SNS would alter the impact of social events, especially those involving social exclusion. Specifically, this study explored whether losing SNS would intensify perceived social distress induced by exclusionary bogus feedback. Eighty-eight Facebook users (46 females, 42 males; mean age = 22.6 years, SD = 3.1 years) were recruited via campus posters and flyers at a national university in southern Taiwan. After participants provided consent, they were randomly assigned to a 2 (SNS non-use vs. neutral) between-subjects experiment. Participants completed an ostensible survey about online social networking in which we included an item about the time spent on SNS per day. The last question was used to manipulate thoughts about losing SNS access. Participants under the non-use condition were asked to record three conditions that would render them unable to use SNS (e.g., a network adaptor problem, malfunctioning cable modem, or problems with Internet service providers); participants under the neutral condition recorded three conditions that would render them unable to log onto the college website (e.g., server maintenance, local network or firewall problems). Later, this experiment employed a bogus-feedback paradigm to induce social exclusion. Participants then rated their social distress on a four-item scale, identical to that of Experiment 1 (α = .84). The results showed that thoughts of losing SNS intensified distress caused by social exclusion, suggesting that the loss of SNS has a similar effect to the loss of a primary source for social reconnections. Moreover, the priming effects of SNS on perceived distress were more prominent for heavy users. The demonstrated link between the idea of losing SNS use and increased pain of social exclusion manifests the importance of SNS as a crucial gateway for acquiring and rebuilding social connections. Use of online social networking appears to be a two-edged sword for coping with social exclusion in human lives in the e-society.

Keywords: online social networking, perceived distress, social exclusion, SNS

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Authors: Markus Pajones, Theresa Steiner, Matthias Neubauer

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Selecting a logistics location is vital for logistics providers, food retailing and other trading companies since the selection poses an essential factor for economic success. Therefore various location search methods like cost-benefit analysis and others are well known and under usage. The development of a logistics location can be related to considerable negative effects for the eco system such as sealing the surface, wrecking of biodiversity or CO2 and noise emissions generated by freight and commuting traffic. The increasing importance of sustainability demands for taking an informed decision when selecting a logistics location for the future. Sustainability considers economic, ecologic and social aspects which should be equally integrated in the process of location search. Objectives of this paper are to define various methods which support the selection of sustainable logistics locations and to generate knowledge about the suitability, assets and limitations of the methods within the selection process. This paper investigates the role of economical, ecological and social aspects when searching for new logistics locations. Thereby, related work targeted towards location search is analyzed with respect to encoded sustainability aspects. In addition, this research aims to gain knowledge on how to include aspects of sustainability and take an informed decision when searching for a logistics location. As a result, a decomposition of the various location search methods in there components leads to a comparative analysis in form of a matrix. The comparison within a matrix enables a transparent overview about the mentioned assets and limitations of the methods and their suitability for selecting sustainable logistics locations. A further result is to generate knowledge on how to combine the separate methods to a new method for a more efficient selection of logistics locations in the context of sustainability. Future work will especially investigate the above mentioned combination of various location search methods. The objective is to develop an innovative instrument, which supports the search for logistics locations with a focus on a balanced sustainability (economy, ecology, social). Because of an ideal selection of logistics locations, induced traffic should be reduced and a mode shift to rail and public transport should be facilitated.

Keywords: commuting traffic, freight traffic, logistics location search, location search method

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Authors: Imad Eddine Charif, Sidi Mohamed Mekelleche, Didier Villemin

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The solvent effects on the keto-enol tautomeric equilibriums of acetylacetone and dimedone are theoretically investigated at the correlated Becke-3-parameter-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) and second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) computational levels. The present study shows that the most stable keto tautomer of acetylacetone corresponds to the trans-diketo, E,Z form; while the most stable enol tautomer corresponds to the closed cis-enol,Z,Z form. The keto tautomer of dimedone prefers the trans diketo, E, E form; while the most stable enol tautomer corresponds to trans-enol form. The calculated free Gibbs enthalpies indicate that, in polar solvents, the keto-enol equilibrium of acetylacetone is shifted toward the keto tautomer; whereas the keto-enol equilibrium of dimedone is shifted towards the enol tautomer. The experimental trends of the change of equilibrium constants with respect to the change of solvent polarity are well reproduced by both B3LYP and MP2 calculations.

Keywords: acetylacetone, dimedone, solvent effects, keto-enol equilibrium, theoretical calculations

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Authors: Mangesh Govindrao Acharya

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It’s a matter of regret that rule began by causing social divisions in slave India. Even after independence, gender inequality persisted in Indian society; however, as social consciousness, awareness of governance, and political participation increased, this disparity gradually decreased. Technological advancement played an important role in awakening women. Today, a large number of women are able to address their problems in relevant places. The sense of honour for women in the family has also increased. Education, health, and food are indispensable for a strong society. Society's attitude towards the education of women and girls has become positive. Today, women have set their records in many important places. Women still face many challenges. Health awareness among rural women is a big challenge. Equality between men and women is the biggest social reform campaign implemented in our country. It has been going on endlessly for years, but the expected success does not seem to have been achieved. On the contrary, the issue of equality between men and women keeps coming before society in a new form. An attempt has been made in the present research essay to give an account of India's performance in this regard at the global level.

Keywords: gender sensitization, gender equality, women's dignity, women's safety

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Authors: Oloruntegbe Kunle Oke, Alake Ese Monica, Odutuyi Olubu Musili

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This research explores the differing effectiveness of cascade and cluster models in professional development programs for educators in Ondo State, Nigeria. The cascade model emphasizes a top-down approach, where training is cascaded from expert trainers to lower levels of teachers. In contrast, the cluster model, a bottom-up approach, fosters collaborative learning among teachers within specific clusters. Through a review of the literature and empirical studies of the implementations of the former in two academic sessions followed by the cluster model in another two, the study examined their effectiveness on teacher development, productivity and students’ achievements. The study also drew a comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses associated with each model, considering factors such as scalability, cost-effectiveness, adaptability in various contexts, and sustainability. 2500 teachers from Ondo State Primary Schools participated in the cascade with intensive training in five zones for a week each in two academic sessions. On the other hand, 1,980 and 1,663 teachers in 52 and 34 clusters, respectively, were in the first and the following session. The programs were designed for one week of rigorous training of teachers by facilitators in the former while the latter was made up of four components: sit-in-observation, need-based assessment workshop, pre-cluster and the actual cluster meetings in addition to sensitization, and took place one day a week for ten weeks. Validated Cluster Impact Survey Instruments, CISI and Teacher’s Assessment Questionnaire (TAQ) were administered to ascertain the effectiveness of the models during and after implementation. The findings from the literature detailed specific effectiveness, strengths and limitations of each approach, especially the potential for inconsistencies and resistance to change. Findings from the data collected revealed the superiority of the cluster model. Response to TAQ equally showed content knowledge and skill update in both but were more sustained in the cluster model. Overall, the study contributes to the ongoing discourse on effective strategies for improving teacher training and enhancing student outcomes, offering practical recommendations for the development and implementation of future professional development projects.

Keywords: cascade model, cluster model, teachers’ development, productivity, students’ achievement

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Authors: Camila da Silva, Simone Belorte de Andrade, Vitor Augusto dos Santos Garcia, Vladimir Ferreira Cabral, J. Vladimir Oliveira Lúcio Cardozo-Filho

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In the present study, the non-catalytic transesterification of soybean oil in continuous mode using supercritical ethanol were investigated. Experiments were performed in a packed-bed tubular reactor (PBTR) and variable studied were reaction temperature (523 K to 598 K), pressure (10 MPa to 20 MPa), oil to ethanol molar ratio (1:10 to 1:40) and water concentration (0 wt% to 10 wt% in ethanol). Results showed that ethyl esters yields obtained in the PBTR were higher (> 20 wt%) than those verified in a tubular reactor (TR), due to improved mass transfer conditions attained in the PBTR. Results demonstrated that temperature, pressure, oil to ethanol molar ratio and water concentration had a positive effect on fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) production in the experimental range investigated, with appreciable reaction yields (90 wt%) achieved at 598 K, 20 MPa, oil to ethanol molar ratio of 1:40 and 10 wt% of water concentration.

Keywords: packed bed reactor, ethyl esters, continuous process, catalyst-free process

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Authors: Laila H. Abdel-Rahman, Mohamed Shaker S. Adam, Ahmed M. Abu-Dief, Hanan El-Sayed Ahmed

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In this investigation, Cu(II), Pd(II) and Ag(I) complexes with the tetra-dentate DSPH Schiff base ligand were synthesized. The DSPH Schiff base and its complexes were characterized by using different physicochemical and spectral analysis. The results revealed that the metal ions coordinated with DSPH ligand through azomethine nitrogen and phenolic oxygen. Cu(II), Pd(II) and Ag(I) complexes are present in a 1:1 molar ratio. Pd(II) and Ag(I) complexes have square planar geometries while, Cu(II) has a distorted octahedral (Oh) geometry. All investigated complexes are nonelectrolytes. The investigated compounds were tested against different strains of bacteria and fungi. Both prepared compounds showed good results of inhibition against the selected pathogenic microorganism. Moreover, the interaction of investigated complexes with CT-DNA was studied via various techniques and the binding modes are mainly intercalative and grooving modes. Operating Environment MOE package was used to do docking studies for the investigated complexes to explore the potential binding mode and energy. Furthermore, the growth inhibitory effect of the investigated compounds was examined on some cancer cells lines.

Keywords: tetradentate, antimicrobial, CT-DNA interaction, docking, anticancer

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Authors: Jayakrishnan Narayanan, Sengamalam Periyasamy Dhanavel

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Indian classical (Karnatik) music videos across various media platforms have followed an audio-visual pattern that conforms to its socio-cultural and quasi-religious identity. The present paper analyzes the semiotic variations between ‘pure Karnatik music videos’ and ‘independent/contemporary-collaborative music videos’ posted on social media by young professional Karnatik musicians. The paper analyzes these media texts by comparing their various structural sememes namely, the title, artists, music, narrative schemata, visuals, lighting, sound, and costumes. The paper argues that the pure Karnatik music videos are marked by the presence of certain recurring mythological or third level signifiers and that these signifiers and codes are marked by their conspicuous absence in the independent music videos produced by the same musicians. While the music and the musical instruments used in both these sets of music videos remain similar, the meaning that is abducted by the beholder in each case is entirely different. The paper also attempts to study the identity conflicts that are projected through these music videos and the extent to which the cultural connotations of Karnatik music govern the production of its music videos.

Keywords: abduction, identity, media semiotics, music video

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Authors: Miguel A. Figueroa, José A. Lara-Ramos, Miguel A. Mueses

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Pharmaceutical residues are a section of emerging contaminants of anthropogenic origin that are present in a myriad of waters with which human beings interact daily and are starting to affect the ecosystem directly. Conventional waste-water treatment systems are not capable of degrading these pharmaceutical effluents because their designs cannot handle the intermediate products and biological effects occurring during its treatment. That is why it is necessary to hybridize conventional waste-water systems with non-conventional processes. In the specific case of an ozonation process, its efficiency highly depends on a perfect dispersion of ozone, long times of interaction of the gas-liquid phases and the size of the ozone bubbles formed through-out the reaction system. In order to increase the efficiency of these parameters, the use of a modified flotation cell has been proposed recently as a reactive system, which is used at an industrial level to facilitate the suspension of particles and spreading gas bubbles through the reactor volume at a high rate. The objective of the present work is the development of a mathematical model that can closely predict the kinetic rates of reactions taking place in the flotation cell at an experimental scale by means of identifying proper reaction mechanisms that take into account the modified chemical and hydrodynamic factors in the FeO-catalyzed Ozonation of Diclofenac aqueous solutions in a flotation cell. The methodology is comprised of three steps: an experimental phase where a modified flotation cell reactor is used to analyze the effects of ozone concentration and loading catalyst over the degradation of Diclofenac aqueous solutions. The performance is evaluated through an index of utilized ozone, which relates the amount of ozone supplied to the system per milligram of degraded pollutant. Next, a theoretical phase where the reaction mechanisms taking place during the experiments must be identified and proposed that details the multiple direct and indirect reactions the system goes through. Finally, a kinetic model is obtained that can mathematically represent the reaction mechanisms with adjustable parameters that can be fitted to the experimental results and give the model a proper physical meaning. The expected results are a robust reaction rate law that can simulate the improved results of Diclofenac mineralization on water using the modified flotation cell reactor. By means of this methodology, the following results were obtained: A robust reaction pathways mechanism showcasing the intermediates, free-radicals and products of the reaction, Optimal values of reaction rate constants that simulated Hatta numbers lower than 3 for the system modeled, degradation percentages of 100%, TOC (Total organic carbon) removal percentage of 69.9 only requiring an optimal value of FeO catalyst of 0.3 g/L. These results showed that a flotation cell could be used as a reactor in ozonation, catalytic ozonation and photocatalytic ozonation processes, since it produces high reaction rate constants and reduces mass transfer limitations (Ha > 3) by producing microbubbles and maintaining a good catalyst distribution.

Keywords: advanced oxidation technologies, iron oxide, emergent contaminants, AOTS intensification

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Authors: Zilungile Sosibo

Abstract:

Constructivism in teacher education is growing tremendously in both the developed and developing world. Proponents of constructivism emphasize active engagement of students in the teaching and learning process. In an effort to keep students engaged while they learn to learn, teachers use a variety of methods to incorporate constructivism in the teaching-learning situations. One area that has a potential for realizing constructivism in the classroom is self-assessment. Sadly, students are rarely involved in the assessment of their work. Instead, the most knowing teacher dominates this process. Student involvement in self-assessments has a potential to teach student teachers to become objective assessors of their students’ work by the time they become credentialed. This is important, as objectivity in assessments is a much-needed skill in the classroom contexts within which teachers deal with students from diverse backgrounds and in which biased assessments should be avoided at all cost. The purpose of the study presented in this paper was to investigate whether student teachers acquired the skills of administering self-assessments objectively after they had been immersed in a formal training program and participated in four sets of self-assessments. The objectives were to determine the extent to which they had mastered the skills of objective self-assessments, their growth and development in this area, and the challenges they encountered in administering self-assessments objectively. The research question was: To what extent did student teachers acquire objectivity in self-assessments after their theoretical and practical engagement in this activity? Data were collected from student teachers through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The design was a qualitative case study. The sample consisted of 39 final-year student teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education teacher education program at a university in South Africa. Results revealed that the formal training program and participation in self-assessments had a minimal effect on students’ acquisition of objectivity in self-assessments, due to the factors associated with self-aggrandizement and hegemony, the latter resulting from gender, religious and racial differences. These results have serious implications for the need to incorporate self-assessments in the teacher-education curriculum, as well as for extended formal training programs for student teachers on assessment in general.

Keywords: objectivity, self-assessment, student teachers, teacher education curriculum

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Noraishah Othman, Siti K. Kamarudin, Norinsan K. Othman, Mohd S. Takriff, Masli I. Rosli, Engku M. Fahmi, Mior A. Khusaini

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The present work describes hydrodynamics of mixing characteristics of two dual hybrid impeller consisting of, radial and axial impeller using radiotracer technique. Type A mixer, a Rushton turbine is mounted above a Pitched Blade Turbine (PBT) at common shaft and Type B mixer, a Rushton turbine is mounted below PBT. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the residence time distribution (RTD) of two hybrid mixers and to represent the respective mixers by RTD model. Each type of mixer will experience five radiotracer experiments using Tc99m as source of tracer and scintillation detectors NaI(Tl) are used for tracer detection. The results showed that mixer in parallel model and mixers in series with exchange can represent the flow model in mixer A whereas only mixer in parallel model can represent Type B mixer well than other models. In conclusion, Type A impeller, Rushton impeller above PBT, reduced the presence of dead zone in the mixer significantly rather than Type B.

Keywords: hybrid impeller, residence time distribution (RTD), radiotracer experiments, RTD model

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: A. Preetha Priyadharshini, S. B. M. Priya

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In this paper, we consider the MU-MISO downlink scenario, under imperfect channel state information (CSI). The main issue in imperfect CSI is to keep the probability of each user achievable outage rate below the given threshold level. Such a rate outage constraints present significant and analytical challenges. There are many probabilistic methods are used to minimize the transmit optimization problem under imperfect CSI. Here, decomposition based large deviation inequality and Bernstein type inequality convex restriction methods are used to perform the optimization problem under imperfect CSI. These methods are used for achieving improved output quality and lower complexity. They provide a safe tractable approximation of the original rate outage constraints. Based on these method implementations, performance has been evaluated in the terms of feasible rate and average transmission power. The simulation results are shown that all the two methods offer significantly improved outage quality and lower computational complexity.

Keywords: imperfect channel state information, outage probability, multiuser- multi input single output, channel state information

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Authors: Dave Kenneth Tayao Cayado, Carlo P. Magno

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The most common source of bias detected are those of gender and socioeconomic status. The present study investigated the Differential Item Functioning (DIF) or item bias between public and private school students in a vocabulary test. Studies on DIF were expanded by using the type of school as a source of bias. There were 200 participants in this study. 100 came from a public secondary school and 100 came from a private secondary school. The vocabulary skills of students were measured using a standardized vocabulary test for grade 7 students. Using DIF, specifically the Rasch-Welch approach, it was found that out of 24 items, 12 were biased for a specific group. The vocabulary skills on the use of slang, idiomatic expression, personification, collocations, and partitive relations were biased for private schools while the use of slang and homonymous words were biased for public school students. The analysis debunked the trend that private school students are outperforming public school students in terms of academic achievement. It was revealed that there are some competencies that private school students are having difficulty and vice versa.

Keywords: differential item functioning, item bias, public school students, private school students, vocabulary

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Rupak Kumar Sarma, Ratul Saikia

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Macrophytes encompass major functional group in eutrophic wetland ecosystems. As a key functional element of freshwater lakes, they play a crucial role in regulating various wetland biogeochemical cycles, as well as maintain the biodiversity at the ecosystem level. The high carbon-rich underground biomass of macrophyte populations may harbour diverse microbial community having significant potential in maintaining different biogeochemical cycles. The present investigation was designed to study the macrophyte-microbe interaction in coupled nitrification and denitrification, considering Deepor Beel Lake (a Ramsar conservation site) of North East India as a model eutrophic system. Highly eutrophic sites of Deepor Beel were selected based on sediment oxygen demand and inorganic phosphorus and nitrogen (P&N) concentration. Sediment redox potential and depth of the lake was chosen as the benchmark for collecting the plant and sediment samples. The average highest depth in winter (January 2016) and summer (July 2016) were recorded as 20ft (6.096m) and 35ft (10.668m) respectively. Both sampling depth and sampling seasons had the distinct effect on variation in macrophyte community composition. Overall, the dominant macrophytic populations in the lake were Nymphaea alba, Hydrilla verticillata, Utricularia flexuosa, Vallisneria spiralis, Najas indica, Monochoria hastaefolia, Trapa bispinosa, Ipomea fistulosa, Hygrorhiza aristata, Polygonum hydropiper, Eichhornia crassipes and Euryale ferox. There was a distinct correlation in the variation of major sediment physicochemical parameters with change in macrophyte community compositions. Quantitative estimation revealed an almost even accumulation of nitrate and nitrite in the sediment samples dominated by the plant species Eichhornia crassipes, Nymphaea alba, Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria spiralis, Euryale ferox and Monochoria hastaefolia, which might have signified a stable nitrification and denitrification process in the sites dominated by the selected aquatic plants. This was further examined by a systematic analysis of microbial populations through culture dependent and independent approach. Culture-dependent bacterial community study revealed the higher population of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in the sediment samples dominated by the six macrophyte species. However, culture-independent study with bacterial 16S rDNA V3-V4 metagenome sequencing revealed the overall similar type of bacterial phylum in all the sediment samples collected during the study. Thus, there might be the possibility of uneven distribution of nitrifying and denitrifying molecular markers among the sediment samples collected during the investigation. The diversity and abundance of the nitrifying and denitrifying molecular markers in the sediment samples are under investigation. Thus, the role of different aquatic plant functional types in microorganism mediated nitrogen cycle coupling could be screened out further from the present initial investigation.

Keywords: denitrification, macrophyte, metagenome, microorganism, nitrification

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Authors: Khan Farhan Rafat, M. Junaid Hussain

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Seamless modification of an entity for the purpose of hiding a message of significance inside its substance in a manner that the embedding remains oblivious to an observer is known as steganography. Together with today's pervasive registering frameworks, steganography has developed into a science that offers an assortment of strategies for stealth correspondence over the globe that must, however, need a critical appraisal from security breach standpoint. Microsoft Word is amongst the preferably used word processing software, which comes as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. With a user-friendly graphical interface, the richness of text editing, and formatting topographies, the documents produced through this software are also most suitable for stealth communication. This research aimed not only to epitomize the fundamental concepts of steganography but also to expound on the utilization of Microsoft Word document as a carrier for furtive message exchange. The exertion is to examine contemporary message hiding schemes from security aspect so as to present the explorative discoveries and suggest enhancements which may serve a wellspring of information to encourage such futuristic research endeavors.

Keywords: hiding information in plain sight, stealth communication, oblivious information exchange, conceal, steganography

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Muhammad Ayoub, Abrar Inayat, Bhajan Lal, Sintayehu Mekuria Hailegiorgis

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Biodiesel which comes from pure renewable resources provide an alternative fuel option for future because of limited fossil fuel resources as well as environmental concerns. The transesterification of vegetable oils for biodiesel production is a promising process to overcome this future crises of energy. The use of heterogeneous catalysts greatly simplifies the technological process by facilitating the separation of the post-reaction mixture. The purpose of the present work was to examine a heterogeneous catalyst, in particular, Mg-Al modified K-10 clay, to produce methyl esters of palm oil. The prepared catalyst was well characterized by different latest techniques. In this study, the transesterification of palm oil with methanol was studied in a heterogeneous system in the presence of Mg-Al modified K-10 clay as solid base catalyst and then optimized these results with the help of Design of Experiments software. The results showed that methanol is the best alcohol for this reaction condition. The best results was achieved for optimization of biodiesel process. The maximum conversion of triglyceride (88%) was noted after 8 h of reaction at 60 ̊C, with a 6:1 molar ratio of methanol to palm oil and 3 wt % of prepared catalyst.

Keywords: palm oil, transestrefication, clay, biodiesel, mesoporous clay, K-10

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Kevin Kien Hoa Chung

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The present study was to investigate cognitive-linguistic skills that might distinguish the improved dyslexics from the non-improved dyslexics. Twenty-eight improved dyslexics and 28 non-improved dyslexics were selected from a pool of 254 students diagnosed as dyslexics in Grade 1 to 2. These students were administered measures: morphological skills, visual-orthographic skills, rapid naming skills, working memory, reading comprehension, writing, word reading, word dictation, and one-minute word reading. Findings showed that the improved dyslexics performed better than the non-improved dyslexics in visual-orthographic skills, word reading, one-minute reading, writing, and reading comprehension. Furthermore, the improved dyslexics showed fewer cognitive-linguistic deficits compared with the non-improved dyslexics. Among the 4 cognitive-linguistic measures, morphological skills and visual-orthographic skills showed the greatest power in discriminating the improved and non-improved dyslexics. Results underscore the importance of cognitive-linguistic skills underlying the manifestations of the improved and non-improved dyslexia in Chinese adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents, chinese language, improved dyslexics, non-improved dyslexics

Procedia PDF Downloads 381