Search results for: green knowledge management

Authors: Rohit Semwal, Shivam Arora, Saurav, Sangita Roy

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This work proposes a supervised framework with deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for vision-based sign language recognition of static gestures. Our approach addresses the acquisition and segmentation of correct inputs for the CNN-based classifier. Microsoft Kinect™ sensor, despite complex environmental conditions, can track hands efficiently. Skin Colour based segmentation is applied on cropped images of hands in different poses, used to depict different sign language gestures. The segmented hand images are used as an input for our classifier. The CNN classifier proposed in the paper is able to classify the input images with a high degree of accuracy. The system was trained and tested on 39 static sign language gestures, including 26 letters of the alphabet and 13 commonly used words. This paper includes a problem definition for building the proposed system, which acts as a sign language translator between deaf/mute and the rest of the society. It is then followed by a focus on reviewing existing knowledge in the area and work done by other researchers. It also describes the working principles behind different components of CNNs in brief. The architecture and system design specifications of the proposed system are discussed in the subsequent sections of the paper to give the reader a clear picture of the system in terms of the capability required. The design then gives the top-level details of how the proposed system meets the requirements.

Keywords: sign language, CNN, HCI, segmentation

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Authors: Misbah Fatma, Anam Saiyeda

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This analysis charts the introduction and expansion of research into the filter bubble phenomena over the last 10 years using a large dataset of academic publications. This bibliometric study demonstrates how interdisciplinary filter bubble research is. The identification of key authors and organizations leading the filter bubble study sheds information on collaborative networks and knowledge transfer. Relevant papers are organized based on themes including algorithmic bias, polarisation, social media, and ethical implications through a systematic examination of the literature. In order to shed light on how these patterns have changed over time, the study plots their historical history. The study also looks at how research is distributed globally, showing geographic patterns and discrepancies in scholarly output. The results of this bibliometric analysis let us fully comprehend the development and reach of filter bubble research. This study offers insights into the ongoing discussion surrounding information personalization and its implications for societal discourse, democratic participation, and the potential risks to an informed citizenry by exposing dominant themes, interdisciplinary collaborations, and geographic patterns. In order to solve the problems caused by filter bubbles and to advance a more diverse and inclusive information environment, this analysis is essential for scholars and researchers.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, social media, social networking, algorithmic personalization, self-selection, content moderation policies and limited access to information, recommender system and polarization

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Authors: Rula D. Alshareef, Safa S. Alqathmi, Ghadah K. Alkhouldi, Reem O. Bagabas, Farheen B. Hasan

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Safety engineering is among the most crucial considerations in any work environment. Providing mentally, physically, and environmentally safe work conditions must be the top priority of any successful organization. Company X is a local paint production company in Saudi Arabia; in a month, the factory experienced two significant accidents, which indicates that workers’ safety is overlooked. The aim of the research is to examine the risks, assess the root causes and recommend control measures that will eventually contribute to providing a safe workplace. The methodology used is sectioned into three phases, risk identification, assessment, and finally, mitigation. In the identification phase, the team used Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Lifting Index (NIOSH LI) tools to holistically establish knowledge about the current risk posed to the factory. The physical hazards in the factory were assessed in two different operations, which are mixing and filling/packaging. For the risk assessment phase, the hazards were deeply analyzed through their severity and impact. Additionally, through risk mitigation, the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) score decreased from 11 to 7, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Lifting Index (NIOSH LI) has been reduced from 5.27 to 1.85.

Keywords: ergonomics, safety, workplace risks, hazards, awkward posture, fatigue, work environment

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Authors: A. Serap Fırat

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The aim of this study is to display conceptually the relationship and interaction between matter of human resources training and the information age. Fast development from industrial community to an information community has occurred and organizations have been seeking ways to overcome this change. Human resources policy and human capital with enhanced competence will have direct impact on work performance; therefore, this paper deals with the increased importance of human resource management due to the fact that it nurtures human capital. Researching and scanning are used as a method in this study. Both local and foreign literature and expert views are employed -as much as one could be- in the making of the theoretical framework of this study.

Keywords: human resources, information age, education, organization, occupation

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Authors: Djeamsly Salomon

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Background: Epidemiological surveillance is a dynamic national system used to observe all aspects of the evolution of priority health problems, through: collection, analysis, systematic interpretation of information, and dissemination of results with necessary recommendations. The study was conducted to assess the mandatory disease surveillance system in the Sud Department. Methods: A study was conducted from March to May 2021 with key players involved in surveillance at the level of health institutions in the department . The CDC's 2021 updated guideline was used to evaluate the system. We collected information about the operation, attributes, and usefulness of the surveillance system using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Epi-Info7.2 and Excel 2016 were used to generate the mean, frequencies and proportions. Results: Of 30 participants, 23 (77%) were women. The average age was 39 years[30-56]. 25 (83%) had training in epidemiological surveillance. (50%) of the forms checked were signed by the supervisor. Collection tools were available at (80%). Knowledge of at least 7 notifiable diseases was high (100%). Among the respondents, 29 declared that the collection tools were simple, 27 had already filled in a notification form. The maximum time taken to fill out a form was 10 minutes. The feedback between the different levels was done at (60%). Conclusion: The surveillance system is useful, simple, acceptable, representative, flexible, stable and responsive. The data generated was of high quality. However, it is threatened by the lack of supervision of sentinel sites, lack of investigation and weak feedback. This evaluation demonstrated the urgent need to improve supervision in the sites and to feedback information. Strengthen epidemiological surveillance.

Keywords: evaluation, notifiable diseases, surveillance, system

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Authors: Jana Beresova

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The paper presents a study carried out in 2015-2016 within the national scheme of research - VEGA 1/0106/15 based on theoretical research and empirical verification of the concept of intercultural communicative competence. It focuses on the current conception concerning target languages teaching compatible with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Our research had revealed how the concept of intercultural communicative competence had been perceived by secondary-school teachers of English in Slovakia before they were intensively trained. Intensive workshops were based on the use of both authentic and instructional materials with the goal to support interculturally oriented language teaching aimed at challenging thinking. The former concept that supported the development of the students´ linguistic knowledge and the use of a target language to obtain information about the culture of the country whose language learners were learning was expanded by the meaning-making framework which views language as a typical means by which culture is mediated. The goal of the workshop was to influence English teachers to better understand the concept of intercultural communicative competence, combining theory and practice optimally. The results of the study will be presented and analysed, providing particular recommendations for language teachers and suggesting some changes in the National Educational Programme from which English learners should benefit in their future studies or professional careers.

Keywords: authentic materials, English language teaching, instructional materials, intercultural communicative competence

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Authors: Duong Cong Chinh, Shiao-Shing Chen, Le Quang Huy

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Membrane distillation (MD) is actually claimed to be a cost-effective separation process when waste heat, alternative energy sources, or wastewater are used. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that a thermophilic anaerobic granular bioreactor is integrated with membrane distillation (ThAnMDB) was investigated. In this study, the laboratory scale anaerobic bioreactor (1.2 litter) was set-up. The bioreactor was maintained at temperature 55 ± 2°C, hydraulic retention time = 0.5 days, organic loading rates of 7 and 10 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD) m³/day. Side-stream direct contact membrane distillation with the polytetrafluoroethylene membrane area was 150 cm². The temperature of the distillate was kept at 25°C. Results show that distillate flux was 19.6 LMH (Liters per square meter per hour) on the first day and gradually decreased to 6.9 LMH after 10 days, and the membrane was not wet. Notably, by directly using the heat from the thermophilic anaerobic for MD separation process, all distilled water from wastewater was reuse as fresh water (electrical conductivity < 120 µs/cm). The ThAnMDB system showed its high pollutant removal performance: chemical oxygen demand (COD) from 99.6 to 99.9%, NH₄⁺ from 60 to 95%, and PO₄³⁻ complete removal. In addition, methane yield was from 0.28 to 0.34 lit CH₄/gram COD removal (80 – 97% of the theoretical) demonstrated that the ThAnMDB system was quite stable. The achievement of the ThAnMDB is not only in removing pollutants and reusing wastewater but also in absolutely unnecessarily adding alkaline to the anaerobic bioreactor system.

Keywords: high rate anaerobic digestion, membrane distillation, thermophilic anaerobic, wastewater reuse

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Authors: Khaldon Lweesy, Feryal Alskafi, Rabaa Hammad, Shaker Khanfar, Yara Alsukhni

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Electronic noses are devices designed to emulate the humane sense of smell by characterizing and differentiating odor profiles. In this study, we build a low-cost e-nose using an array module containing four different types of metal oxide semiconductor gas sensors. We used this system to create a profile for a meat specimen over three days. Then using a pattern recognition software, we correlated the odor of the specimen to its age. It is a simple, fast detection method that is both non-expensive and non-destructive. The results support the usage of this technology in food control management.

Keywords: e-nose, low cost, odor detection, food safety

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Authors: Solanki Ravirajsinh, Kudo Kuniaki, Sharma Ankit, Devi Sherine, Kuboshima Misaki, Tachi Shuntaro

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In software development life cycles, the absence of scalable CI/CD significantly impacts organizations, leading to increased overall maintenance costs, prolonged release delivery times, heightened manual efforts, and difficulties in meeting tight deadlines. Implementing CI/CD with standard serverless technologies using cloud services overcomes all the above-mentioned issues and helps organizations improve efficiency and faster delivery without the need to manage server maintenance and capacity. By integrating scalable CI/CD with scalable automation testing, productivity, quality, and agility are enhanced while reducing the need for repetitive work and manual efforts. Implementing scalable CI/CD for development using cloud services like ECS (Container Management Service), AWS Fargate, ECR (to store Docker images with all dependencies), Serverless Computing (serverless virtual machines), Cloud Log (for monitoring errors and logs), Security Groups (for inside/outside access to the application), Docker Containerization (Docker-based images and container techniques), Jenkins (CI/CD build management tool), and code management tools (GitHub, Bitbucket, AWS CodeCommit) can efficiently handle the demands of diverse development environments and are capable of accommodating dynamic workloads, increasing efficiency for faster delivery with good quality. CI/CD pipelines encourage collaboration among development, operations, and quality assurance teams by providing a centralized platform for automated testing, deployment, and monitoring. Scalable CI/CD streamlines the development process by automatically fetching the latest code from the repository every time the process starts, building the application based on the branches, testing the application using a scalable automation testing framework, and deploying the builds. Developers can focus more on writing code and less on managing infrastructure as it scales based on the need. Serverless CI/CD eliminates the need to manage and maintain traditional CI/CD infrastructure, such as servers and build agents, reducing operational overhead and allowing teams to allocate resources more efficiently. Scalable CI/CD adjusts the application's scale according to usage, thereby alleviating concerns about scalability, maintenance costs, and resource needs. Creating scalable automation testing using cloud services (ECR, ECS Fargate, Docker, EFS, Serverless Computing) helps organizations run more than 500 test cases in parallel, aiding in the detection of race conditions, performance issues, and reducing execution time. Scalable CI/CD offers flexibility, dynamically adjusting to varying workloads and demands, allowing teams to scale resources up or down as needed. It optimizes costs by only paying for the resources as they are used and increases reliability. Scalable CI/CD pipelines employ automated testing and validation processes to detect and prevent errors early in the development cycle.

Keywords: achieve parallel execution, cloud services, scalable automation testing, scalable continuous integration and deployment

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Authors: Stephen M. Simmons, Stuart W. Baur, William L. Gillis

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In recent years, increasing concern has been shown towards the issue of light pollution, especially with the spread of brighter, more blue-rich LED bulbs. Much research has been conducted in order to study the effects of artificial light at night, and many adverse impacts have been discovered, such as circadian disruption, degradation of the night sky, and interference oftheprocesses and behaviors of plants and animals. Despite a plethora of informationin the literature regarding the numerous illeffects of this type of pollution, there does not appear to be a complete summary of these impacts, including their magnitudes, which would facilitate the balancing of risks and benefits in the design of an exterior lighting system. This paperprovides a comprehensive review of the known impacts of light pollution, divided into four categories - human health, night sky, plants, and animals; additionally, it includes a synopsis of what likely remains unknown at this point in time. This review will attempt to showcase the relative significance of differentimpacts within each category, as well as their sensitivity to changes in lighting specifications (brightness, color temperature, shielding, and mounting height). Methods to be employed in this research include an extensive literature review and the gathering of expert knowledge and opinions. The findings of this review will be used to inform the creation of an optimized lighting design for the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus. It is hoped that future research willexplore the known impacts of light pollution further, as well as search for what still remains to be found regarding the consequencesof artificial light at night.

Keywords: comprehensive review, impacts, light pollution, lighting design, literature review

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Authors: Guo Jinhong

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The purpose of this study is to explore the association between board member functions and information disclosure levels. Based on the literature variables, such as the characteristics of the board of directors in the past, a single comprehensive indicator is established as a substitute variable for board functions, and the information disclosure evaluation results published by the Securities and Foundation are used to measure the information disclosure level of the company. This study focuses on companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange from 2006 to 2010 and uses descriptive statistical analysis, univariate analysis, correlation analysis and ordered normal probability (Ordered Probit) regression for empirical analysis. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the function of board members and the level of information disclosure. This study also conducts a sensitivity test and draws similar conclusions, showing that boards with better board member functions have higher levels of information disclosure. In addition, this study also found that higher board independence, lower director shareholding pledge ratio, higher director shareholding ratio, and directors with rich professional knowledge and practical experience can help improve the level of information disclosure. The empirical results of this study provide strong support for the "relative regulations to improve the level of information disclosure" formulated by the competent authorities in recent years.

Keywords: function of board members, information disclosure, securities, foundation

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Authors: Filip Stojcevski, Tim Hilditch, Luke Henderson

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Although carbon fibre composites are becoming ever more prominent in the engineering industry, interfacial failure still remains one of the most common limitations to material performance. Carbon fiber surface treatments have played a major role in advancing composite properties however research into the influence of manufacturing variables on a fiber manufacturing line is lacking. This project investigates the impact of altering carbon fiber manufacturing conditions on a production line (specifically electrochemical oxidization and sizing variables) to assess fiber-matrix adhesion. Pristine virgin fibers were manufactured and interfacial adhesion systematically assessed from a microscale (single fiber) to a mesoscale (12k tow), and ultimately a macroscale (laminate). Correlations between interfacial shear strength (IFSS) at each level is explored as a function of known interfacial bonding mechanisms; namely mechanical interlocking, chemical adhesion and fiber wetting. Impact of these bonding mechanisms is assessed through extensive mechanical, topological and chemical characterisation. They are correlated to performance as a function of IFSS. Ultimately this study provides a bottoms up approach to improving composite laminates. By understanding the scaling effects from a singular fiber to a composite laminate and linking this knowledge to specific bonding mechanisms, material scientists can make an informed decision on the manufacturing conditions most beneficial for interfacial adhesion.

Keywords: carbon fibers, interfacial adhesion, surface treatment, sizing

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Authors: Olusola Akintunde Adediran

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This study examined differential effect of Gender difference in social interaction skill of pupils with autism using token economy and video modeling as intervention strategies. A pretest, posttest, control group, quasi-experimental research design was adopted in the study. 17 participants (11 males and 6 females) were selected purposively from 5 centres in Ibadan and randomized into three groups (token economy, video modeling and control groups). Two instruments were used in the study; Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS) for 299.00 Autistic Disorder (r = 0.82) and Children’s Self-report Social Skill Scale (CS4) (r= 0.93). A descriptive statistics was used to analyse the participants social interaction data based on intervention and gender, while inferential statistics of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and scheffe post-hoc measure was used to anlayse three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results obtained indicated that there was a significant main effect of treatment on social interaction of participants, but there was no significant of main effect of gender on the social interaction of participants, hence, (F(2,14) = .741; p > .05, eta = .050). Lastly, there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender of the participants, hence (F(2,10) = 2.177; p > .05, eta 2 = 202). The study has contributed to the frontiers of knowledge by establishing that social interaction of autism is attainable when token economy and video modelling are used as treatment intervention, hence, they should be adopted by the teachers, curriculum planners and other stakeholders.

Keywords: social interaction, token economy, video modelling, autism, gender

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Authors: Houda Najeh, Mahendra Pratap Singh, Stéphane Ploix, Antoine Caucheteux, Karim Chabir, Mohamed Naceur Abdelkrim

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Building system is highly vulnerable to different kinds of faults and human misbehaviors. Energy efficiency and user comfort are directly targeted due to abnormalities in building operation. The available fault diagnosis tools and methodologies particularly rely on rules or pure model-based approaches. It is assumed that model or rule-based test could be applied to any situation without taking into account actual testing contexts. Contextual tests with validity domain could reduce a lot of the design of detection tests. The main objective of this paper is to consider fault validity when validate the test model considering the non-modeled events such as occupancy, weather conditions, door and window openings and the integration of the knowledge of the expert on the state of the system. The concept of heterogeneous tests is combined with test validity to generate fault diagnoses. A combination of rules, range and model-based tests known as heterogeneous tests are proposed to reduce the modeling complexity. Calculation of logical diagnoses coming from artificial intelligence provides a global explanation consistent with the test result. An application example shows the efficiency of the proposed technique: an office setting at Grenoble Institute of Technology.

Keywords: heterogeneous tests, validity, building system, sensor grids, sensor fault, diagnosis, fault detection and isolation

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Authors: Pakpoom Hannapha

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This paper investigates the implications of social and political contexts in Thai Post’s news articles written by a columnist, Khon Plai Soy. Samples included twenty eight news articles published between 28th May 2015 and 28th June 2015 selected and analyzed according to Semiotics including implications, connotation, cultural politics, and Thai usage in newspaper articles. The data analysis can be divided into two parts; first, an analysis of signs/signifiers appearing in the articles and second, an analysis of the columnist’s purposes. This study demonstrated representations of signs in the selected articles that were categorized into four groups: events, actions, persons, and organizations. In this study, implications of the news articles were analyzed in two aspects according to Semiotics. It was found that the columnist mostly points out purposes for education, facts, and personal opinions in his works. Also, he offers some solutions to problems discussed in the articles. The writer often explicated knowledge and facts in accordance with either his personal opinions or problem-solutions. According to the research result, studying the implications of news articles in the Thai Post based on the Semiotic approach can help clarify and understand connotative meanings in terms of contents and the writer’s purposes. This paper can enhance readers’ understanding of Semiotic implications through signs and meanings in the texts and thus be used as a model to explore other political news articles

Keywords: semiotic analysis, Thai social contexts, Thai Post’s news, articles

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Authors: Jacqueline Eleonora Ek, Michael Spiteri, Chris Giordimaina, Pierre Agius

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Background: Malta is known for being a key player as a frontline country with regard to irregular immigration from Africa to Europe. Every year the island experiences an influx of migrants as boat movement across the Mediterranean continues to be a humanitarian challenge. Irregular immigration and applying for asylum is both a lengthy and mentally demanding process. Those doing so are often faced with multiple challenges, which can adversely affect their mental health. Between January and August 2020, Malta disembarked 2 162 people rescued at sea, 463 of them between July & August. Given the small size of the Maltese islands, this regulation places a disproportionately large burden on the country, creating a backlog in the processing of asylum applications resulting in increased time periods of detention. These delays reverberate throughout multiple management pathways resulting in prolonged periods of detention and challenging access to health services. Objectives: To better understand the spatial dimensions of this humanitarian crisis, this study aims to assess disparities in the acute medical management of migrants presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute mental health presentations as compared to that of local and non-local residents. Method: In this retrospective study, 17795 consecutive ED attendances were reviewed to look for acute mental health presentations. These were further evaluated to assess discrepancies in transportation routes to hospital, nature of presenting complaint, effects of language barriers, use of CT brain, treatment given at ED, availability of psychiatric reviews, and final admission/discharge plans. Results: Of the ED attendances, 92.3% were local residents, and 7.7% were non-locals. Of the non-locals, 13.8% were migrants, and 86.2% were other-non-locals. Acute mental health presentations were seen in 1% of local residents; this increased to 20.6% in migrants. 56.4% of migrants attended with deliberate self-harm; this was lower in local residents, 28.9%. Contrastingly, in local residents, the most common presenting complaint was suicidal thought/ low mood 37.3%, the incidence was similar in migrants at 33.3%. The main differences included 12.8% of migrants presenting with refused oral intake while only 0.6% of local residents presented with the same complaints. 7.7% of migrants presented with a reduced level of consciousness, no local residents presented with this same issue. Physicians documented a language barrier in 74.4% of migrants. 25.6% were noted to be completely uncommunicative. Further investigations included the use of a CT scan in 12% of local residents and in 35.9% of migrants. The most common treatment administered to migrants was supportive fluids 15.4%, the most common in local residents was benzodiazepines 15.1%. Voluntary psychiatric admissions were seen in 33.3% of migrants and 24.7% of locals. Involuntary admissions were seen in 23% of migrants and 13.3% of locals. Conclusion: Results showed multiple disparities in health management. A meeting was held between entities responsible for migrant health in Malta, including the emergency department, primary health care, migrant detention services, and Malta Red Cross. Currently, national quality-improvement initiatives are underway to form new pathways to improve patient-centered care. These include an interpreter unit, centralized handover sheets, and a dedicated migrant health service.

Keywords: emergency department, communication, health, migration

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Authors: Elkington Sibusiso Mnguni

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In South Africa, mining has been a key economic sector since the discovery of gold in 1886 in the Witwatersrand region, where the city of Johannesburg is located. However, some mines have since been decommissioned, and the continuous pumping of acid mine drainage (AMD) also stopped causing the AMD to rise towards the ground surface. This posed a serious environmental risk to the groundwater resources and river systems in the region. This paper documents the development and extent of the environmental damage as well as the measures implemented by the government to alleviate such damage. The study will add to the body of knowledge on the subject of AMD treatment to prevent environmental degradation. The method used to gather and collate relevant data and information was the desktop study. The key findings include the social and environmental impact of the AMD, which include the pollution of water sources for domestic use leading to skin and other health problems and the loss of biodiversity in some areas. It was also found that the technical intervention of constructing a plant to pump and treat the AMD using the high-density sludge technology was the most effective short-term solution available while a long-term solution was being explored. Some successes and challenges experienced during the implementation of the project are also highlighted. The study will be a useful record of the current status of the AMD treatment interventions in the region.

Keywords: acid mine drainage, groundwater resources, pollution, river systems, technical intervention, high density sludge

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Authors: Reshu Yadav, Himanshu Joshi, S. K. Tripathi

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Fresh water is a scarce resource which is essential for humans and ecosystems, but its distribution is uneven. Agricultural production accounts for 70% of all surface water supplies. It is projected that against the expansion in the area equipped for irrigation by 0.6% per year, the global potential irrigation water demand would rise by 9.5% during 2021-25. This would, on one hand, have to compete against the sharply rising urban water demand. On the other, it would also have to face the fear of climate change, as temperatures rise and crop yields could drop from 10-30% in many large areas. The huge demand for irrigation combined with fresh water scarcity encourages to explore the reuse of wastewater as a resource. However, the use of such wastewater is often linked to the safety issues when used non judiciously or with poor safeguards while irrigating food crops. Paddy is one of the major crops globally and amongst the most important in South Asia and Africa. In many parts of the world, use of municipal wastewater has been promoted as a viable option in this regard. In developing and fast growing countries like India, regularly increasing wastewater generation rates may allow this option to be considered quite seriously. In view of this, a pilot field study was conducted at the Jagjeetpur Municipal Sewage treatment plant situated in the Haridwar town of Uttarakhand state, India. The objectives of the present study were to study the effect of treated wastewater on the production of various paddy varieties (Sharbati, PR-114, PB-1, Menaka, PB1121 and PB 1509) and emission of GHG gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) as compared to the same varieties grown in the control plots irrigated with fresh water. Of late, the concept of water footprint assessment has emerged, which explains enumeration of various types of water footprints of an agricultural entity from its production to processing stages. Paddy, the most water demanding staple crop of Uttarakhand state, displayed a high green water footprint value of 2966.538 m3/ton. Most of the wastewater irrigated varieties displayed upto 6% increase in production, except Menaka and PB-1121, which showed a reduction in production (6% and 3% respectively), due to pest and insect infestation. The treated wastewater was observed to be rich in Nitrogen (55.94 mg/ml Nitrate), Phosphorus (54.24 mg/ml) and Potassium (9.78 mg/ml), thus rejuvenating the soil quality and not requiring any external nutritional supplements. Percentage increase of GHG gases on irrigation with treated municipal waste water as compared to control plots was observed as 0.4% - 8.6% (CH4), 1.1% - 9.2% (CO2), and 0.07% - 5.8% (N2O). The variety, Sharbati, displayed maximum production (5.5 ton/ha) and emerged as the most resistant variety against pests and insects. The emission values of CH4 ,CO2 and N2O were 729.31 mg/m2/d, 322.10 mg/m2/d and 400.21 mg/m2/d in water stagnant condition. This study highlighted a successful possibility of reuse of wastewater for non-potable purposes offering the potential for exploiting this resource that can replace or reduce existing use of fresh water sources in agricultural sector.

Keywords: greenhouse gases, nutrients, water footprint, wastewater irrigation

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Authors: Feiruz Ab'lah, Zarini Ismail, Mohamad Zaki Hassan, Siti Nadia Mohd Bakhori, Mohamad Azlan Suhot, Mohd Yusof Md. Daud, Shamsul Sarip

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The construction industry is one of the major sectors in Malaysia. Apart from providing facilities, services, and goods it also offers employment opportunities to local and foreign workers. In fact, the construction workers are exposed to a hazardous level of noises that generated from various sources including excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixer, and piling machines. Previous studies indicated that the piling and concrete work was recorded as the main source that contributed to the highest level of noise among the others. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain the noise exposure during piling process and to determine the awareness of workers against noise pollution at the construction site. Initially, the reading of noise was obtained at construction site by using a digital sound level meter (SLM), and noise exposure to the workers was mapped. Readings were taken from four different distances; 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters from the piling machine. Furthermore, a set of questionnaire was also distributed to assess the knowledge regarding noise pollution at the construction site. The result showed that the mean noise level at 5m distance was more than 90 dB which exceeded the recommended level. Although the level of awareness regarding the effect of noise pollution is satisfactory, majority of workers (90%) still did not wear ear protecting device during work period. Therefore, the safety module guidelines related to noise pollution controls should be implemented to provide a safe working environment and prevent initial occupational hearing loss.

Keywords: construction, noise awareness, noise pollution, piling machine

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Authors: Pinyada Santisarun, Yaowaret Tharawoot, Songyut Akkakoson

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This paper reports on a literature review sub-study of a larger research project which has been designed to identify the rhetorical organization of a travel writing genre, together with the use of lexical choices, syntactical structures, and graphological features, based on a randomly-selected corpus of Thailand travel listicles. Conducted as a library-based overview, this study aims to specify theoretical and practical elements for the said larger study. The materials for the review have been retrieved from various Internet sources, covering both public search engines and library databases. Generally, the article focuses on answering questions about the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of such background elements widely discussed in the literature as the meaning of listicles, how the travel listicles’ patterns and regularities can be categorized to form a new genre, the effect of computer-mediated communication on the travel world, the travel language, and the current situation concerning the importance of travel listicles. The theoretical and practical data derived from this study provide valuable insights into the way in which the genre analysis and lexico-syntactical examination of Thailand travel listicles in the present authors’ larger research project can be properly conducted. The data gained can be added to the expanding body of knowledge in the field of the ESP genre.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, digital writing, genre-based analysis, online travel writing, tourism language

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Authors: Shanaj Parvin Jonaki

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After the first wave of the feminist movement, gender has become one of the most important issues to be researched in social science. Many gender theories have been invented and opened a new window to look at. These works showed how gender is a social construct, how gender has been used to oppress, how to rule. While it's the education system’s duty to guide students to understand the concept of gender, it sometimes shows gender-based discrimination. Transgenders exclusion from educational institutes of Bangladesh justifies this very statement. This study aims to figure out how people perceive transgenders’ identity, their inclusion in secondary schools, as well as the underlying barriers in the pathway of inclusion in the context of Bangladesh. A qualitative approach was taken to explore different perspectives towards transgender inclusion from several stakeholders such as students, parents, and teachers of secondary schools and transgenders as well. Data were collected through focus group discussion and interview by convenient sampling. 15 students, 10 parents, and 5 teachers were selected from Bangla Medium school as well as from Madrasha. Collected data were analyzed thematically and were run by experts of gender, education, and psychology to identify the core barriers of inclusion. The study revealed that most of the students, teachers, and parents lacked the knowledge of non-binary gender identities, and they showed unwillingness towards the inclusion of transgender in schools because of the cultural context of Bangladesh. Moreover, this study suggests future initiatives to be taken to ensure the inclusion of transgenders in a secondary school in our country and analyzes it through the lens of feminist theories.

Keywords: education, gender, inclusion, transgender

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Authors: Arslan Murtaza

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Model Driven Architecture (MDA) is technique presented by OMG (Object Management Group) for software development in which different models are proposed and converted them into code. The main plan is to identify task by using PIM (Platform Independent Model) and transform it into PSM (Platform Specific Model) and then converted into code. In this review paper describes some challenges and issues that are faced in MDA, type and transformation of models (e.g. CIM, PIM and PSM), and evaluation of MDA-based methodologies.

Keywords: OMG, model driven rrchitecture (MDA), computation independent model (CIM), platform independent model (PIM), platform specific model(PSM), MDA-based methodologies

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Authors: Yogesh Kumar Singh, T. S. Murugesh Prabhu, Upasana Dutta, Girishchandra Yendargaye, Rahul Yadav, Rohini Gopinath Kale, Binay Kumar, Manoj Khare

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The Indian subcontinent is severely affected by floods that cause intense irreversible devastation to crops and livelihoods. With increased incidences of floods and their related catastrophes, an Early Warning System for Flood Prediction and an efficient Flood Management System for the river basins of India is a must. Accurately modeled hydrological conditions and a web-based early warning system may significantly reduce economic losses incurred due to floods and enable end users to issue advisories with better lead time. This study describes the design and development of an EWS-FP using advanced computational tools/methods, viz. High-Performance Computing (HPC), Remote Sensing, GIS technologies, and open-source tools for the Mahanadi River Basin of India. The flood prediction is based on a robust 2D hydrodynamic model, which solves shallow water equations using the finite volume method. Considering the complexity of the hydrological modeling and the size of the basins in India, it is always a tug of war between better forecast lead time and optimal resolution at which the simulations are to be run. High-performance computing technology provides a good computational means to overcome this issue for the construction of national-level or basin-level flash flood warning systems having a high resolution at local-level warning analysis with a better lead time. High-performance computers with capacities at the order of teraflops and petaflops prove useful while running simulations on such big areas at optimum resolutions. In this study, a free and open-source, HPC-based 2-D hydrodynamic model, with the capability to simulate rainfall run-off, river routing, and tidal forcing, is used. The model was tested for a part of the Mahanadi River Basin (Mahanadi Delta) with actual and predicted discharge, rainfall, and tide data. The simulation time was reduced from 8 hrs to 3 hrs by increasing CPU nodes from 45 to 135, which shows good scalability and performance enhancement. The simulated flood inundation spread and stage were compared with SAR data and CWC Observed Gauge data, respectively. The system shows good accuracy and better lead time suitable for flood forecasting in near-real-time. To disseminate warning to the end user, a network-enabled solution is developed using open-source software. The system has query-based flood damage assessment modules with outputs in the form of spatial maps and statistical databases. System effectively facilitates the management of post-disaster activities caused due to floods, like displaying spatial maps of the area affected, inundated roads, etc., and maintains a steady flow of information at all levels with different access rights depending upon the criticality of the information. It is designed to facilitate users in managing information related to flooding during critical flood seasons and analyzing the extent of the damage.

Keywords: flood, modeling, HPC, FOSS

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Authors: Mohammad Talei, Neda Ranjbar Nosheri, Reza Kazemi Gorzadini

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Today municipalities are searching for the new tools for increasing the public participation in different levels of urban planning. This approach of urban planning involves the community in planning process using participatory approaches instead of the long traditional top-down planning methods. These tools can be used to obtain the particular problems of urban furniture form the residents’ point of view. One of the tools that is designed with this goal is public participation GIS (PPGIS) that enables citizen to record and following up their feeling and spatial knowledge regarding main problems of the city, specifically urban furniture, in the form of maps. However, despite the good intentions of PPGIS, its practical implementation in developing countries faces many problems including the lack of basic supporting infrastructure and services and unavailability of sophisticated public participatory models. In this research we develop a PPGIS using of Web 2 to collect voluntary geodataand to perform spatial analysis based on Spatial OnLine Analytical Processing (SOLAP) and Spatial Data Mining (SDM). These tools provide urban planners with proper informationregarding the type, spatial distribution and the clusters of reported problems. This system is implemented in a case study area in Tehran, Iran and the challenges to make it applicable and its potential for real urban planning have been evaluated. It helps decision makers to better understand, plan and allocate scarce resources for providing most requested urban furniture.

Keywords: PPGIS, spatial information, urbanizing futures, urban planning

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Authors: Moon Moon Devi, Ran Budnik

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The current large area cosmic ray detector surface arrays typically measure only the net flux and arrival-time of the charged particles produced in an extensive air shower (EAS). Measurement of the individual charged particles at a surface array will provide additional distinguishing parameters to identify the primary and to map the very high energy interactions in the upper layers of the atmosphere. In turn, these may probe anomalies in QCD interactions at energies beyond the reach of current accelerators. The recent attempts of studying the individual muon tracks are limited in their expandability to larger arrays and can only probe primary particles with energy up to about 10^15.5 eV. New developments in detector technology allow for a realistic cost of large area detectors, however with limitations on energy resolutions, directional information, and dynamic range. In this study, we perform a simulation study using CORSIKA to combine the energy spectrum and lateral spread of the muons with the longitudinal depth (Xmax) of an EAS initiated by a primary at ultra high energies (10¹⁶ – 10¹⁹) eV. Using proton and iron as the shower primaries, we show that the muon observables and Xmax together can be used to distinguish the primary. This study can be used to design a future detector for the surface array, which will be able to enhance our knowledge of primaries and QCD interactions.

Keywords: ultra high energy extensive air shower, muon tracking, air shower primaries, QCD interactions

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Authors: Giulia Fredi, Andrea Dorigato, Luca Fambri, Alessandro Pegoretti

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Thermal energy storage (TES) is the storage of heat for later use, thus filling the gap between energy request and supply. The most widely used materials for TES are the organic solid-liquid phase change materials (PCMs), such as paraffin. These materials store/release a high amount of latent heat thanks to their high specific melting enthalpy, operate in a narrow temperature range and have a tunable working temperature. However, they suffer from a low thermal conductivity and need to be confined to prevent leakage. These two issues can be tackled by confining PCMs with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). TES applications include the buildings industry, solar thermal energy collection and thermal management of electronics. In most cases, TES systems are an additional component to be added to the main structure, but if weight and volume savings are key issues, it would be advantageous to embed the TES functionality directly in the structure. Such multifunctional materials could be employed in the automotive industry, where the diffusion of lightweight structures could complicate the thermal management of the cockpit environment or of other temperature sensitive components. This work aims to produce epoxy/carbon structural laminates containing CNT-stabilized paraffin. CNTs were added to molten paraffin in a fraction of 10 wt%, as this was the minimum amount at which no leakage was detected above the melting temperature (45°C). The paraffin/CNT blend was cryogenically milled to obtain particles with an average size of 50 µm. They were added in various percentages (20, 30 and 40 wt%) to an epoxy/hardener formulation, which was used as a matrix to produce laminates through a wet layup technique, by stacking five plies of a plain carbon fiber fabric. The samples were characterized microstructurally, thermally and mechanically. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests showed that the paraffin kept its ability to melt and crystallize also in the laminates, and the melting enthalpy was almost proportional to the paraffin weight fraction. These thermal properties were retained after fifty heating/cooling cycles. Laser flash analysis showed that the thermal conductivity through the thickness increased with an increase of the PCM, due to the presence of CNTs. The ability of the developed laminates to contribute to the thermal management was also assessed by monitoring their cooling rates through a thermal camera. Three-point bending tests showed that the flexural modulus was only slightly impaired by the presence of the paraffin/CNT particles, while a more sensible decrease of the stress and strain at break and the interlaminar shear strength was detected. Optical and scanning electron microscope images revealed that these could be attributed to the preferential location of the PCM in the interlaminar region. These results demonstrated the feasibility of multifunctional structural TES composites and highlighted that the PCM size and distribution affect the mechanical properties. In this perspective, this group is working on the encapsulation of paraffin in a sol-gel derived organosilica shell. Submicron spheres have been produced, and the current activity focuses on the optimization of the synthesis parameters to increase the emulsion efficiency.

Keywords: carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, lightweight materials, multifunctional composites, thermal energy storage

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Authors: Josiel Delgadillo, Johnson Kinyua, Charles Mutigwe

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The purpose of sentiment analysis is to determine the sentiment strength (e.g., positive, negative, neutral) from a textual source for good decision-making. Natural language processing in domains such as financial markets requires knowledge of domain ontology, and pre-trained language models, such as BERT, have made significant breakthroughs in various NLP tasks by training on large-scale un-labeled generic corpora such as Wikipedia. However, sentiment analysis is a strong domain-dependent task. The rapid growth of social media has given users a platform to share their experiences and views about products, services, and processes, including financial markets. StockTwits and Twitter are social networks that allow the public to express their sentiments in real time. Hence, leveraging the success of unsupervised pre-training and a large amount of financial text available on social media platforms could potentially benefit a wide range of financial applications. This work is focused on sentiment analysis using social media text on platforms such as StockTwits and Twitter. To meet this need, SkyBERT, a domain-specific language model pre-trained and fine-tuned on financial corpora, has been developed. The results show that SkyBERT outperforms current state-of-the-art models in financial sentiment analysis. Extensive experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of SkyBERT.

Keywords: BERT, financial markets, Twitter, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Malek Mahmoudi, Jonas Keruckas, Dmytro Volyniuk, Jurate Simokaitiene, Juozas V. Grazulevicius

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Host materials have been discovered as one of the most appealing methods for harvesting triplet states in organic materials for application in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ideal host-guest system for emission in thermally delayed fluorescence OLEDs with 20% guest concentration for efficient energy transfer has been demonstrated in the present investigation. In this work, 3,3'-bis[9-(4-fluorophenyl) carbazole] (bFPC) has been used as the host, which induces balanced charge carrier transport for high-efficiency OLEDs.For providing a complete characterization of the synthesized compound, photophysical, photoelectrical, charge-transporting, and electrochemical properties of the compound have been examined. Excited-state lifetimes and singlet-triplet energy gaps were measured for characterization of photophysical properties, while thermogravimetric analysis, as well as differential scanning calorimetry measurements, were performed for probing of electrochemical and thermal properties of the compound. The electrochemical properties of this compound were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, and ionization potential (IPCV) value of 5.68 eV was observed. UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence spectrum of a solution of the compound in toluene (10-5 M) showed maxima at 302 and 405 nm, respectively. Photoelectron emission spectrometry was used for the characterization of charge-injection properties of the studied compound in solid. The ionization potential of this material was found to be 5.78 eV, and time-of-flight measurement was used for testing charge-transporting properties and hole mobility estimated using this technique in a vacuum-deposited layer reached 4×10-4 cm2 V-1s-1. Since the compound with high charge mobilities was tested as a host in an organic light-emitting diode. The device was fabricated by successive deposition onto a pre-cleaned indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate under a vacuum of 10-6 Torr and consisting of an indium-tin-oxide anode, hole injection and transporting layer(MoO3, NPB), emitting layer with bFPC as a host and 4CzIPN (2,4,5,6-tetra(9-carbazolyl)isophthalonitrile) which is a new highly efficient green thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) material as an emitter, an electron transporting layer(TPBi) and lithium fluoride layer topped with aluminum layer as a cathode exhibited the highest maximum current efficiency and power efficiency of 33.9 cd/A and 23.5 lm/W, respectively and the electroluminescence spectrum showed only a peak at 512nm. Furthermore, the new bicarbazole-based compound was tested as a host in thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes are reaching luminance of 25300 cd m-2 and external quantum efficiency of 10.1%. Interestingly, the turn-on voltage was low enough (3.8 V), and such a device can be used for highly efficient light sources.

Keywords: thermally-activated delayed fluorescence, host material, ionization energy, charge mobility, electroluminescence

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Authors: Aleksandra Twarda, Dobrosława Krzemień, Grzegorz Dubin, Tad A. Holak

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Stabilin-2 belongs to the group of scavenger receptors and plays a crucial role in clearance of more than 10 ligands from the bloodstream, including hyaluronic acid, products of degradation of extracellular matrix and metabolic products. The Link domain, a defining feature of stabilin-2, has a sequence similar to Link domains in other hyaluronic acid receptors, such as CD44 or TSG-6, and is responsible for most of ligands binding. Present knowledge of signal transduction by stabilin-2, as well as ligands’ recognition and binding mechanism, is limited. Until now, no experimental structures have been solved for any segments of stabilin-2. It has recently been demonstrated that the stabilin-2 knock-out or blocking of the receptor by an antibody effectively opposes cancer metastasis by elevating the level of circulating hyaluronic acid. Moreover, loss of expression of stabilin-2 in a peri-tumourous liver correlates with increased survival. Solving of the crystal structure of stabilin-2 and elucidation of the binding mechanism of hyaluronic acid could enable the precise characterization of the interactions in the binding site. These results may allow for designing specific small-molecule inhibitors of stabilin-2 that could be used in cancer therapy. To carry out screening for crystallization of stabilin-2, we cloned constructs of the Link domain of various lengths with or without surrounding domains. The folding properties of the constructs were checked by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It is planned to show the binding of hyaluronic acid to the Link domain using several biochemical methods, i.a. NMR, isothermal titration calorimetry and fluorescence polarization assay.

Keywords: stabilin-2, Link domain, X-ray crystallography, NMR, hyaluronic acid, cancer

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Authors: Sandra Rigot, Samira Demaria, Frederic Lemaire

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The starting point of this research is the contemporary capitalist paradox: there is a real scarcity of long term investment despite the boom of potential long term investors. This gap represents a major challenge: there are important needs for long term financing in developed and emerging countries in strategic sectors such as energy, transport infrastructure, information and communication networks. Moreover, the recent financial and sovereign debt crises, which have respectively reduced the ability of financial banking intermediaries and governments to provide long term financing, questions the identity of the actors able to provide long term financing, their methods of financing and the most appropriate forms of intermediation. The issue of long term financing is deemed to be very important by the EU Commission, as it issued a 2013 Green Paper (GP) on long-term financing of the EU economy. Among other topics, the paper discusses the impact of the recent regulatory reforms on long-term investment, both in terms of accounting (in particular fair value) and prudential standards for banks. For banks, prudential and accounting standards are also crucial. Fair value is indeed well adapted to the trading book in a short term view, but this method hardly suits for a medium and long term portfolio. Banks’ ability to finance the economy and long term projects depends on their ability to distribute credit and the way credit is valued (fair value or amortised cost) leads to different banking strategies. Furthermore, in the banking industry, accounting standards are directly connected to the prudential standards, as the regulatory requirements of Basel III use accounting figures with prudential filter to define the needs for capital and to compute regulatory ratios. The objective of these regulatory requirements is to prevent insolvency and financial instability. In the same time, they can represent regulatory constraints to long term investing. The balance between financial stability and the need to stimulate long term financing is a key question raised by the EU GP. Does fair value accounting contributes to short-termism in the investment behaviour? Should prudential rules be “appropriately calibrated” and “progressively implemented” not to prevent banks from providing long-term financing? These issues raised by the EU GP lead us to question to what extent the main regulatory requirements incite or constrain banks to finance long term projects. To that purpose, we study the 292 responses received by the EU Commission during the public consultation. We analyze these contributions focusing on particular questions related to fair value accounting and prudential norms. We conduct a two stage content analysis of the responses. First, we proceed to a qualitative coding to identify arguments of respondents and subsequently we run a quantitative coding in order to conduct statistical analyses. This paper provides a better understanding of the position that a large panel of European stakeholders have on these issues. Moreover, it adds to the debate on fair value accounting and its effects on prudential requirements for banks. This analysis allows us to identify some short term bias in banking regulation.

Keywords: basel 3, fair value, securitization, long term investment, banks, insurers

Procedia PDF Downloads 285