Search results for: digital emergency response system

Authors: Sumbal Riaz, Sardar-un-Nisa, Mehreen Sirshar

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5G - The 5th generation of mobile phone and data communication standards is the next edge of innovation for whole mobile industry. 5G is Real Wireless World System and it will provide a totally wireless communication system all over the world without limitations. 5G uses many 4g technologies and it will hit the market in 2020. This research is the comprehensive survey on the quality parameters of 5G technology.5G provide High performance, Interoperability, easy roaming, fully converged services, friendly interface and scalability at low cost. To meet the traffic demands in future fifth generation wireless communications systems will include i) higher densification of heterogeneous networks with massive deployment of small base stations supporting various Radio Access Technologies (RATs), ii) use of massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) arrays, iii) use of millimetre Wave spectrum where larger wider frequency bands are available, iv) direct device to device (D2D) communication, v) simultaneous transmission and reception, vi) cognitive radio technology.

Keywords: 5G, 5th generation, innovation, standard, wireless communication

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Authors: Turki M. Habeebullah, Atef M. F. Mohammed, Essam A. Morsy

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In recent decades, particulate matter (PM10) have received much attention due to its potential adverse health impact and the subsequent need to better control or regulate these pollutants. The aim of this paper is focused on study risk assessment of PM10 in four different districts (Shebikah, Masfalah, Aziziyah, Awali) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during the period from 1 Ramadan 1434 AH - 27 Safar 1435 AH. samples was collected by using Low Volume Sampler (LVS Low Volume Sampler) device and filtration method for estimating the total concentration of PM10. The study indicated that the mean PM10 concentrations were 254.6 (186.1 - 343.2) µg/m3 in Shebikah, 184.9 (145.6 - 271.4) µg/m3 in Masfalah, 162.4 (92.4 - 253.8) µg/m3 in Aziziyah, and 56.0 (44.5 - 119.8) µg/m3 in Awali. These values did not exceed the permissible limits in PME (340 µg/m3 as daily average). Furthermore, health assessment is carried out using AirQ2.2.3 model to estimate the number of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. The cumulative number of cases per 100,000 were 1534 (18-3050 case), which lower than that recorded in the United States, Malaysia. The concentration response coefficient was 0.49 (95% CI 0.05 - 0.70) per 10 μg/m3 increase of PM10.

Keywords: air pollution, respiratory diseases, airQ2.2.3, Makkah

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Authors: Monika Balach, Iwona Frydrych, Agnieszka Cichocka

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The objective of this research is to develop an algorithm, taking into account material type and body type that will describe the fabric properties and quality of fit of a garment to the body. One of the objectives of this research is to develop a new algorithm to simulate cloth draping within CAD/CAM software. Existing virtual fitting does not accurately simulate fabric draping behaviour. Part of the research into virtual fitting will focus on the mechanical properties of fabrics. Material behaviour depends on many factors including fibre, yarn, manufacturing process, fabric weight, textile finish, etc. For this study, several different fabric types with very different mechanical properties will be selected and evaluated for all of the above fabric characteristics. These fabrics include woven thick cotton fabric which is stiff and non-bending, woven with elastic content, which is elastic and bends on the body. Within the virtual simulation, the following mechanical properties can be specified: shear, bending, weight, thickness, and friction. To help calculate these properties, the KES system (Kawabata) can be used. This system was originally developed to calculate the mechanical properties of fabric. In this research, the author will focus on three properties: bending, shear, and roughness. This study will consider current research using the KES system to understand and simulate fabric folding on the virtual body. Testing will help to determine which material properties have the largest impact on the fit of the garment. By developing an algorithm which factors in body type, material type, and clothing function, it will be possible to determine how a specific type of clothing made from a particular type of material will fit on a specific body shape and size. A fit indicator will display areas of stress on the garment such as shoulders, chest waist, hips. From this data, CAD/CAM software can be used to develop garments that fit with a very high degree of accuracy. This research, therefore, aims to provide an innovative solution for garment fitting which will aid in the manufacture of clothing. This research will help the clothing industry by cutting the cost of the clothing manufacturing process and also reduce the cost spent on fitting. The manufacturing process can be made more efficient by virtual fitting of the garment before the real clothing sample is made. Fitting software could be integrated into clothing retailer websites allowing customers to enter their biometric data and determine how the particular garment and material type would fit their body.

Keywords: 3D scanning, fabric mechanical properties, quality of fit, virtual fitting

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Authors: Ali Raheli, Rahim Habibifar, Behzad Mohammadi-Alasti, Mahdi Abbasgholipour

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This paper presents vibration behavior of a FGM micro-beam and its pull-in instability under a nonlinear electrostatic pressure. An exponential function has been applied to show the continuous gradation of the properties along thickness. Nonlinear integro-differential-electro-mechanical equation based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory has been derived. The governing equation in the static analysis has been solved using Step-by-Step Linearization Method and Finite Difference Method. Fixed points or equilibrium positions and singular points have been shown in the state control space. In order to find the response to a step DC voltage, the nonlinear equation of motion has been solved using Galerkin-based reduced-order model and time histories and phase portrait for different applied voltages have been shown. The effects of electrostatic pressure on stability of FGM micro-beams having various amounts of the ceramic constituent have been investigated.

Keywords: FGM, MEMS, nonlinear vibration, electrical, dynamic pull-in voltage

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Authors: Othman Maklouf, Abdunnaser Tresh

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Land vehicle navigation is subject of great interest today. Global Positioning System (GPS) is the main navigation system for positioning in such systems. GPS alone is incapable of providing continuous and reliable positioning, because of its inherent dependency on external electromagnetic signals. Inertial Navigation (INS) is the implementation of inertial sensors to determine the position and orientation of a vehicle. The availability of low-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) inertial sensors is now making it feasible to develop INS using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). INS has unbounded error growth since the error accumulates at each step. Usually, GPS and INS are integrated with a loosely coupled scheme. With the development of low-cost, MEMS inertial sensors and GPS technology, integrated INS/GPS systems are beginning to meet the growing demands of lower cost, smaller size, and seamless navigation solutions for land vehicles. Although MEMS inertial sensors are very inexpensive compared to conventional sensors, their cost (especially MEMS gyros) is still not acceptable for many low-end civilian applications (for example, commercial car navigation or personal location systems). An efficient way to reduce the expense of these systems is to reduce the number of gyros and accelerometers, therefore, to use a partial IMU (ParIMU) configuration. For land vehicular use, the most important gyroscope is the vertical gyro that senses the heading of the vehicle and two horizontal accelerometers for determining the velocity of the vehicle. This paper presents a field experiment for a low-cost strap down (ParIMU)\GPS combination, with data post processing for the determination of 2-D components of position (trajectory), velocity and heading. In the present approach, we have neglected earth rotation and gravity variations, because of the poor gyroscope sensitivities of our low-cost IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and because of the relatively small area of the trajectory.

Keywords: GPS, IMU, Kalman filter, materials engineering

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Authors: Salem B. Abdalla

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This study investigated the current Building Information Modelling (BIM) trends and practices in the UAE, particularly to shed light on a recently circulated Dubai BIM mandate. Two sets of surveys were mailed to the AEC industry and the corresponding academic sector within the UAE to collect up-to-date data on BIM awareness and utilization. The surveys showed startling results concerning the academic sector in the UAE where almost 70% of respondents were not aware of the BIM mandate. Among the rest, even when aware, the majority of mechanical and electrical engineering schools felt that BIM is not pertinent to their discipline. Therefore, the response to offering BIM in their curriculum was substantially low (35%). On the other hand, the industrial survey identified a large majority (76.5%) of the AEC industry in the UAE are using BIM. The results clearly indicate that the academia should include BIM in their curriculum to produce qualified graduates to support the market. However, the academia is also faced with several obstacles to implement BIM in their curriculum, where the main pretext is that there is “no room for new courses in existing curriculum”.

Keywords: building information modeling, BIM adoption, UAE BIM industry survey, UAE BIM academia survey, Dubai BIM mandate, UK BIM mandate, BIM education, architecture education, engineering schools, BIM implementation, BIM curriculum

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Authors: Bulelani Ngamntwini, Liezel Cilliers

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South Africa has one of the highest prevalence of obese people on the African continent. Forty-six percent of the adults in South Africa are physically inactive. Fitness applications can be used to increase physical inactivity. However, the uptake of mobile fitness applications in South Africa has been found to be poor due to usability challenges with the technology. The study developed a usability framework to influence the intention to use mobile fitness applications in South Africa. The study made use of a positivistic approach to collect data. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 377 respondents that have used mobile fitness applications in the past. A response rate of 80.90% was recorded. To analyse the data, the Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationships between the various hypotheses. There are four usability factors, efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, which contribute to the intention of users to make use of mobile fitness applications. The study, therefore, recommends that for a mobile fitness application to be successful, these four factors must be considered and incorporated by developers when designing the applications.

Keywords: obese, overweight, physical inactivity, mobile fitness application, usability factors

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Authors: Driouiche Ali, Karmal Ilham

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The Agadir region is characterized by a dry climate, ranging from arid attenuated by oceanic influences to hyper-arid. The water mobilized in the agricultural sector of greater Agadir is 95% of underground origin and comes from the water table of Chtouka. The rest represents the surface waters of the Youssef Ben Tachfine dam. These waters are intended for the irrigation of 26880 hectares of modern agriculture. More than 120 boreholes and wells are currently exploited. Their depth varies between 10 m and 200 m and the unit flow rates of the boreholes are 5 to 50 l/s. A drop in the level of the water table of about 1.5 m/year, on average, has been observed during the last five years. Farmers are thus called upon to improve irrigation methods. Thus, localized or drip irrigation is adopted to allow rational use of water. The importance of this irrigation system is due to the fact that water is applied directly to the root zone and its compatibility with fertilization. However, this irrigation system faces a thorny problem which is the clogging of pipes and drippers. This leads to a lack of uniformity of irrigation over time. This so-called scaling phenomenon, the consequences of which are harmful (cleaning or replacement of pipes), leads to considerable unproductive expenditure. The objective set by this work is the search for green inhibitors likely to prevent this phenomenon of scaling. This study requires a better knowledge of these waters, their physico-chemical characteristics and their scaling power. Thus, using the "LCGE" controlled degassing technique, we initially evaluated, on pure calco-carbonic water at 30°F, the scaling-inhibiting power of some available plant extracts in our region of Souss-Massa. We then carried out a comparative study of the efficacy of these green inhibitors. The action of the most effective green inhibitor on real agricultural waters was then studied.

Keywords: green inhibitors, localized irrigation, plant extracts, scaling inhibition

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Authors: Francesco Rizzuto, Matthew Stickland, Stephan Hannot

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The simulation of a positive displacement pump system with commercial software for Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD), will result in an enormous computational effort due to the complexity of the pump system. This drawback restricts the use of it to a specific part of the pump in one simulation. This research focuses on developing an algorithm that provides a suitable result in agreement with experiment data, without that computational effort. The compressible equations are solved with an explicit algorithm. A comparison is presented between the FV method with Monotonic Upwind scheme for Conservative Laws (MUSCL) with slope limiter and experimental results. The source term for cavitation and friction is introduced into the algorithm with a slipping strategy and solved with a 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme (RK4). Different pumps are modeled and analyzed to evaluate the flexibility of the code. The simulation required minimal computation time and resources without compromising the accuracy of the simulation results. Therefore, this algorithm highlights the feasibility of pressure pulsation simulation as a design tool for an industrial purpose.

Keywords: cavitation, diaphragm, DVCM, finite volume, MUSCL, positive displacement pump

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Authors: Barış Ozluoymak, Emin Guzel, Ahmet İnce

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Since chemical fertilizers are used for meeting the deficiency of plant nutrients, its many harmful effects are not taken into consideration for the structure of the earth. These fertilizers are hampering the work of the organisms in the soil immediately after thrown to the ground. This interference is first started with a change of the soil pH and micro organismic balance is disrupted by reaction in the soil. Since there can be no fragmentation of plant residues, organic matter in the soil will be increasingly impoverished in the absence of micro organismic living. Biological activity reduction brings about a deterioration of the soil structure. If the chemical fertilization continues intensively, soils will get worse every year; plant growth will slow down and stop due to the intensity of chemical fertilizers, yield decline will be experienced and farmer will not receive an adequate return on his investment. In this research, a prototype of automatic farm manure spreading machine for orange orchards that not just manufactured in Turkey was designed, constructed, tested and eliminate the human drudgery involved in spreading of farm manure in the field. The machine comprised several components as a 5 m3 volume hopper, automatic controlled hydraulically driven chain conveyor device and side delivery conveyor belts. To spread the solid farm manure automatically, the machine was equipped with an electronic control system. The hopper and side delivery conveyor designs fitted between orange orchard tree row spacing. Test results showed that the control system has significant effects on reduction in the amount of unnecessary solid farm manure use and avoiding inefficient manual labor.

Keywords: automatic control system, conveyor belt application, orchard, solid farm manure

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Authors: Aleena Rena Onozuka, Patompong Satapornpong

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Introduction: In a Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)’s immune response, HLA alleles (HLA class I and class II) play a crucial role in fighting against pathogens. HLA-B*15:01 allele had a significant association with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection (p-value = 5.67 x 10-5 ; OR = 2.40 and 95% CI = 1.54 - 3.64). There was also a notable linkage between HLA-B*51:01 allele and critically ill patients with COVID-19 (p-value = 0.007 and OR = 3.38). This study has described the distribution of HLA marker alleles in Thais and sub-groups. Objective: We want to investigate the prevalence of HLA-B*15:01 and HLA-B*51:01 alleles in the Thai population. Materials and Methods: 200 healthy Thai population were included in this study from the College of Pharmacy, Rangsit University. HLA-B alleles were genotyped using the sequence-specific oligonucleotides process (PCR-SSOs). Results: We found out that HLA-B*46:01 (12.00%), HLA-B*15:02 (9.25%), HLA-B*40:01 (6.50%), HLA-B*13:01 (6.25%), and HLA-B* 38:02 (5.50%) alleles were more common than other alleles in Thai population. HLA-B*46:01 and HLA-B*15:02 were the most common allele found across four regions. Moreover, the frequency of HLA-B*15:01 and HLA-B*51:01 alleles were similarly distributed in Thai population (0.50, 5.25 %) and (p-value > 0.05), respectively. The frequencies of HLA-B*15:01 and HLA-B*51:01 alleles were not significantly different from other populations compared to the Thai population. Conclusions: We can screen for HLA-B*15:01 and HLA-B*51:01 alleles to determine the symptoms of COVID-19 since they are universal HLA-B markers. Importantly, the database of HLA markers indicates the association between HLA frequency and populations. However, we need further research on larger numbers of COVID-19 patients and in different populations.

Keywords: HLA-B*15:01, HLA-B*51:01, COVID-19, HLA-B alleles

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Authors: Osamede Asowata, Christo Pienaar, Johan Bekker

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Photovoltaic (PV) modules may become a trend for future PV systems because of their greater flexibility in distributed system expansion, easier installation due to their nature, and higher system-level energy harnessing capabilities under shaded or PV manufacturing mismatch conditions. This is as compared to the single or multi-string inverters. Novel residential scale PV arrays are commonly connected to the grid by a single DC–AC inverter connected to a series, parallel or series-parallel string of PV panels, or many small DC–AC inverters which connect one or two panels directly to the AC grid. With an increasing worldwide interest in sustainable energy production and use, there is renewed focus on the power electronic converter interface for DC energy sources. Three specific examples of such DC energy sources that will have a role in distributed generation and sustainable energy systems are the photovoltaic (PV) panel, the fuel cell stack, and batteries of various chemistries. A high-efficiency inverter using Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) for all active switches is presented for a non-isolated photovoltaic and AC-module applications. The proposed configuration features a high efficiency over a wide load range, low ground leakage current and low-output AC-current distortion with no need for split capacitors. The detailed power stage operating principles, pulse width modulation scheme, multilevel bootstrap power supply, and integrated gate drivers for the proposed inverter is described. Experimental results of a hardware prototype, show that not only are MOSFET efficient in the system, it also shows that the ground leakage current issues are alleviated in the proposed inverter and also a 98 % maximum associated driver circuit is achieved. This, in turn, provides the need for a possible photovoltaic panel switching technique. This will help to reduce the effect of cloud movements as well as improve the overall efficiency of the system.

Keywords: grid connected photovoltaic (PV), Matlab efficiency simulation, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), module integrated converters (MICs), multilevel converter, series connected converter

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Authors: Kyung Min Kang, Peng Mou, Dong Xiang, Gang Shen

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For planetary gear system, Planet pin-hole position accuracy is one of most influential factor to efficiency and reliability of planetary gear system. This study considers planet pin-hole position error as a main input error for model and build multi body dynamic simulation model of planetary gear including planet pin-hole position error using MSC. ADAMS. From this model, the mesh load results between meshing gears in each pin-hole position error cases are obtained and based on these results, planet load sharing factor which reflect equilibrium state of mesh load sharing between whole meshing gear pair is calculated. Analysis result indicates that the pin-hole position error of tangential direction cause profound influence to mesh load and load sharing factor between meshing gear pair.

Keywords: planetary gear, load sharing factor, multibody dynamics, pin-hole position error

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Authors: Jessica Maiuolo, Irene Bava, Micaela Gliozzi, Vincenzo Mollace

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Doxorubicin is an anthracycline that is commonly used as a chemotherapy drug due to its cytotoxic effects. The clinical use of doxorubicin is limited due to its known cardiotoxic effects. Polyphenols have a wide range of beneficial properties, and particular importance is given to Oleuropein, one of the main polyphenolic compounds of olive oil. The biological mechanisms involved and the role of the endoplasmic reticulum were examined. Olive oil extract and Oleuropein were able to decrease the damage induced by exposure to doxorubicin. In particular, this natural compound was found to reduce cell mortality and oxidative damage, increase lipid content, and decrease the concentration of calcium ions that escaped from the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, the direct involvement of this cellular organelle was demonstrated by silencing the ATF6 arm of the Unfolded Protein Response, which was activated after treatment with doxorubicin. The protection afforded by pre-treatment with the natural compound of interest, following the early damage induced by DOXO, provided valuable information regarding the potential use of these substances along with chemotherapy treatment.

Keywords: Olea europea L., oleuropein, doxorubicin, endoplasmic reticulum, nutraceutical support

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Authors: Mannan Malik Muhammad Naeem, Jeong Myung Yung

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Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has a favorable position in non-invasive brain imaging techniques. The concentration change of oxygenated hemoglobin and de-oxygenated hemoglobin during particular cognitive activity is the basis for this neuro-imaging modality. Two wavelengths of near-infrared light can be used with modified Beer-Lambert law to explain the indirect status of neuronal activity inside brain. The temporal resolution of fNIRS is very good for real-time brain computer-interface applications. The portability, low cost and an acceptable temporal resolution of fNIRS put it on a better position in neuro-imaging modalities. In this study, an optimization model for impulse response function has been used to estimate/predict initial dip using fNIRS data. In addition, the activity strength parameter related to motor based cognitive task has been analyzed. We found an initial dip that remains around 200-300 millisecond and better localize neural activity.

Keywords: fNIRS, brain-computer interface, optimization algorithm, adaptive signal processing

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Authors: Mahdieh Zamzamzadeh, Ahmad Abdullah Saifizul, Rahizar Ramli

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The road accidents involving heavy vehicles have been showing worrying trends and, year after year, have increased the concern and awareness levels on safety of roads and transportations especially in developing countries like Malaysia. Statistics of road crashes continue to show that there are many contributing factors on the capability of a heavy vehicle to stop on safe distance and ultimately prevent traffic crashes. However, changes in the road condition due to weather variations and the vehicle dynamic specifications such as loading conditions and speed are the main risk factors because they will affect a heavy vehicle’s braking performance due to losing control and not being able to stop the vehicle, and in many cases will cause wheel lock up and accordingly skidding. Predicting heavy vehicle skidding distance is crucial for accident reconstruction and roadside safety engineers. Despite this, formal tools to study heavy vehicle skidding distance before stopping completely are totally limited, and most researchers have only considered braking distance in their studies. As a possible new tool, this work presents the iterative use of vehicle dynamic simulations to study heavy vehicle-roadway interaction in order to predict wheel lock up effects on skidding distance and safety. This research addresses the influence of the vehicle and road conditions on skidding distance after wheel lock up and presents a precise analysis of skidding phenomenon. The vehicle speed, vehicle loading condition and road friction parameters were all varied in a simulation-based analysis. In order to simulate the wheel lock up situation, a heavy vehicle model was constructed and simulated using multibody vehicle dynamics simulation software, and careful analysis was made on the conditions which caused the skidding distance to increase or decrease through a method using to predict skidding distance as part of braking distance. By applying many simulations, the results were quite revealing relation between the heavy vehicles loading condition, various sets of speed and road coefficient of friction and their interaction effect on the skidding distance. A number of results are presented which illustrate how the heavy vehicle overloading can seriously affect the skidding distance. Moreover, the results of simulation give the skid mark length, which is a necessary input data during accident reconstruction involving emergency braking.

Keywords: accident reconstruction, Braking, heavy vehicle, skidding distance, skid mark, wheel lock up

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Authors: Sylvester Akpah, Selasi Vondee

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as they are also known, drones have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their ubiquitous nature and boundless applications in the areas of communication, surveying, aerial photography, weather forecasting, medical delivery, surveillance amongst others. Operated remotely in real-time or pre-programmed, drones can fly autonomously or on pre-defined routes. The application of these aerial vehicles has successfully penetrated the world due to technological evolution, thus a lot more businesses are utilizing their capabilities. Unfortunately, while drones are replete with the benefits stated supra, they are riddled with some problems, mainly attributed to the complexities in learning how to master drone flights, collision avoidance and enterprise security. Additional challenges, such as the analysis of flight data recorded by sensors attached to the drone may take time and require expert help to analyse and understand. This paper presents an autonomous drone control system using a chatbot. The system allows for easy control of drones using conversations with the aid of Natural Language Processing, thus to reduce the workload needed to set up, deploy, control, and monitor drone flight missions. The results obtained at the end of the study revealed that the drone connected to the chatbot was able to initiate flight missions with just text and voice commands, enable conversation and give real-time feedback from data and requests made to the chatbot. The results further revealed that the system was able to process natural language and produced human-like conversational abilities using Artificial Intelligence (Natural Language Understanding). It is recommended that radio signal adapters be used instead of wireless connections thus to increase the range of communication with the aerial vehicle.

Keywords: artificial ntelligence, chatbot, natural language processing, unmanned aerial vehicle

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Authors: Dilliram Paudyal

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The history of taxation in Nepal dates back to antiquity. However, the modern tax system gained its momentum after the establishment of democracy in 1951, which initially focused only land tax and tariff on foreign trade. In the due time, several taxes were introduced, such as direct taxes, indirect taxes, and non-taxes. However, the tax structure in Nepal is heavily dominated by indirect taxes that contribute more than 60 % of the total revenue. The government has been mobilizing revenues through a series of tax reforms during the Tenth Five-year Plan (2002 – 2007) and successive Three-year Interim Development Plans by introducing several tax measures. However, these reforms are regressive in nature, which does not lead the overall economy towards short-run stability as well as in the long run development. Based on the literature review and discussion among government officials and few taxpayers individually and groups, this paper aims to major issues and challenges that hinder the tax reform effective in Nepal. Additionally, this paper identifies potential way and process of tax reform in Nepal. The results of the study indicate that transparency in a major problem in Nepalese tax system in Nepal, where serious structural constraints with administrative and procedural complexities envisaged in the Income Tax Act and taxpayers are often unaware of the specific size of tax which is to comply them. Some other issues include high tax rate, limited tax base, leakages in tax collection, rigid and complex Income Tax Act, inefficient and corrupt tax administration, limited potentialities of direct taxes and negative responsiveness of land tax with higher administrative costs. In the context, modality of tax structure and mobilize additional resources is to be rectified on a greater quantum by establishing an effective, dynamic and highly power driven Autonomous Revenue Board.

Keywords: corrupt, development, inefficient, taxation

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Yu-Ching Lin

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With more and more workflow systems adopting cloud as their execution environment, it presents various challenges that need to be addressed in order to be utilized efficiently. This paper introduces a method for resource provisioning based on our previous research of dynamic allocation and its pipeline processes. We present an abstraction for workload scheduling in which independent tasks get scheduled among various available processors of distributed computing for optimization. We also propose an integrated web-based workflow designer by taking advantage of the HTML5 technology and chaining together multiple tools. In order to make the combination of multiple pipelines executing on the cloud in parallel, we develop a script translator and an execution engine for workflow management in the cloud. All information is known in advance by the workflow engine and tasks are allocated according to the prior knowledge in the repository. This proposed effort has the potential to provide support for process definition, workflow enactment and monitoring of workflow processes. Users would benefit from the web-based system that allows creation and execution of pipelines without scripting knowledge.

Keywords: workflow systems, resources provisioning, workload scheduling, web-based, workflow engine

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Authors: Juan C. Pérez-Mesa, Emilio Galdeano-Gómez, Jerónimo De Burgos-Jiménez, José F. Bienvenido-Bárcena, José F. Jiménez-Guerrero

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Environmental cost and transport congestion on roads resulting from product distribution in Europe have to lead to the creation of various programs and studies seeking to reduce these negative impacts. In this regard, apart from other institutions, the European Commission (EC) has designed plans in recent years promoting a more sustainable transportation model in an attempt to ultimately shift traffic from the road to the sea by using intermodality to achieve a model rebalancing. This issue proves especially relevant in supply chains from peripheral areas of the continent, where the supply of certain agrifood products is high. In such cases, the most difficult challenge is managing perishable goods. This study focuses on new approaches that strengthen the modal shift, as well as the reduction of externalities. This problem is analyzed by attempting to promote intermodal system (truck and short sea shipping) for transport, taking as point of reference highly perishable products (vegetables) exported from southeast Spain, which is the leading supplier to Europe. Methodologically, this paper seeks to contribute to the literature by proposing a different and complementary approach to establish a comparison between intermodal and the “only road” alternative. For this purpose, the multicriteria decision is utilized in a p-median model (P-M) adapted to the transport of perishables and to a means of shipping selection problem, which must consider different variables: transit cost, including externalities, time, and frequency (including agile response time). This scheme avoids bias in decision-making processes. By observing the results, it can be seen that the influence of the externalities as drivers of the modal shift is reduced when transit time is introduced as a decision variable. These findings confirm that the general strategies, those of the EC, based on environmental benefits lose their capacity for implementation when they are applied to complex circumstances. In general, the different estimations reveal that, in the case of perishables, intermodality would be a secondary and viable option only for very specific destinations (for example, Hamburg and nearby locations, the area of influence of London, Paris, and the Netherlands). Based on this framework, the general outlook on this subject should be modified. Perhaps the government should promote specific business strategies based on new trends in the supply chain, not only on the reduction of externalities, and find new approaches that strengthen the modal shift. A possible option is to redefine ports, conceptualizing them as digitalized redistribution and coordination centers and not only as areas of cargo exchange.

Keywords: environmental externalities, intermodal transport, perishable food, transit time

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Authors: Somesh Misha, Smita Raghuvanshi, Suresh Gupta

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Increasing concentration of green house gases (GHG's), such as CO2 is of major concern and start showing its impact nowadays. The recent studies are focused on developing the continuous system using photoautotrophs for CO2 mitigation and simultaneous production of primary and secondary metabolites as a value addition. The advent of carbon concentrating mechanism had blurred the distinction between autotrophs and heterotrophs and now the paradigm has shifted towards the carbon capture and utilization (CCU) rather than carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). In the present work, a bioreactor was developed utilizing the chemolithotrophic bacterial species using CO2 mitigation and simultaneous value addition. The kinetic modeling was done and the biokinetic parameters are obtained for developing the bioreactor. The bioreactor was developed and studied for its operation and performance in terms of volumetric loading rate, mass loading rate, elimination capacity and removal efficiency. The characterization of effluent from the bioreactor was carried out for the products obtained using the analyzing techniques such as FTIR, GC-MS, and NMR. The developed bioreactor promised an economic, efficient and effective solution for CO2 mitigation and simultaneous value addition.

Keywords: CO2 mitigation, bio-reactor, chemolithotrophic bacterial species, FTIR, GC-MS, NMR

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Authors: Amit Kumar

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Accurate identification of deteriorated air quality regions is very helpful in devising better environmental practices and mitigation efforts. In the present study, an attempt has been made to identify the air pollutant dispersion patterns especially NOX due to vehicular and industrial sources over a rapidly developing urban city, Visakhapatnam (17°42’ N, 83°20’ E), India, during April 2009. Using the emission factors of different vehicles as well as the industry, a high resolution 1 km x 1 km gridded emission inventory has been developed for Visakhapatnam city. A dispersion model AERMOD with explicit representation of planetary boundary layer (PBL) dynamics and offline coupled through a developed coupler mechanism with a high resolution mesoscale model WRF-ARW resolution for simulating the dispersion patterns of NOX is used in the work. The meteorological as well as PBL parameters obtained by employing two PBL schemes viz., non-local Yonsei University (YSU) and local Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ) of WRF-ARW model, which are reasonably representing the boundary layer parameters are considered for integrating AERMOD. Significantly different dispersion patterns of NOX have been noticed between summer and winter months. The simulated NOX concentration is validated with available six monitoring stations of Central Pollution Control Board, India. Statistical analysis of model evaluated concentrations with the observations reveals that WRF-ARW of YSU scheme with AERMOD has shown better performance. The deteriorated air quality locations are identified over Visakhapatnam based on the validated model simulations of NOX concentrations. The present study advocates the utility of tNumerical Simulation of Air Pollutant Using Coupled AERMOD-WRF Modeling System over Visakhapatnam: A Case Studyhe developed gridded emission inventory of NOX with coupled WRF-AERMOD modeling system for air quality assessment over the study region.

Keywords: WRF-ARW, AERMOD, planetary boundary layer, air quality

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Authors: Manuel Jose Oyson

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in its most recent report for the entire world “to both mitigate and adapt to climate change if it is to effectively avoid harmful climate impacts.” The IPCC observed “with high confidence” a more rapid rise in total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions from 2000 to 2010 than in the past three decades that “were the highest in human history”, which if left unchecked will entail a continuing process of global warming and can alter the climate system. Current efforts, however, to respond to the threat of global warming, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, have focused on states, and fail to involve Transnational Corporations (TNCs) which are responsible for a vast amount of GHG emissions. Involving TNCs in the search for solutions to climate change is consistent with an acknowledgment by contemporary international law that there is an international role for other international persons, including TNCs, and departs from the traditional “state-centric” response to climate change. Putting the focus of GHG emissions away from states recognises that the activities of TNCs “are not bound by national borders” and that the international movement of goods meets the needs of consumers worldwide. Although there is no legally-binding instrument that covers TNC activities or legal responsibilities generally, TNCs have increasingly been made legally responsible under international law for violations of human rights, exploitation of workers and environmental damage, but not for climate change damage. Imposing on TNCs a legally-binding obligation to reduce their GHG emissions or a legal liability for climate change damage is arguably formidable and unlikely in the absence a recognisable source of obligation in international law or municipal law. Instead a recourse to “soft law” and non-legally binding instruments may be a way forward for TNCs to reduce their GHG emissions and help in addressing climate change. Positive effects have been noted by various studies to voluntary approaches. TNCs have also in recent decades voluntarily committed to “soft law” international agreements. This development reflects a growing recognition among corporations in general and TNCs in particular of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). While CSR used to be the domain of “small, offbeat companies”, it has now become part of mainstream organization. The paper argues that TNCs must voluntarily commit to reducing their GHG emissions and helping address climate change as part of their CSR. One, as a serious “global commons problem”, climate change requires international cooperation from multiple actors, including TNCs. Two, TNCs are not innocent bystanders but are responsible for a large part of GHG emissions across their vast global operations. Three, TNCs have the capability to help solve the problem of climate change. Assuming arguendo that TNCs did not strongly contribute to the problem of climate change, society would have valid expectations for them to use their capabilities, knowledge-base and advanced technologies to help address the problem. It would seem unthinkable for TNCs to do nothing while the global environment fractures.

Keywords: climate change law, corporate social responsibility, greenhouse gas emissions, transnational corporations

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Authors: Cunyu Zhang

Abstract:

Through literature review about studies related to tense, it is found that there exist disagreements on the definition and existence of Chinese tense. Influenced by some researches on English language which regard tense as a grammatical category based on the verbal inflections of English, some Chinese researchers claim that there is no tense in Chinese language as there are no verbal inflections involved. Meanwhile, other Chinese researchers hold that Chinese still has tense although its verbs are non-inflectional based on the fact that Chinese lexical expressions can imply temporal meaning. We assume that the reasons for the above disagreements in terms of Chinese tense lie in the fact that all the previous studies prefer to view language “from the below” which means expressions of tense are the core part of these studies. However, there are about 6,000 languages with distinct expressions all over the world. Hence, if the language studies only concentrate on expressions, it must become more difficult to understand the nature of language. By contrast, functions of languages are similar; otherwise, the human beings could not communicate with each other. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary for us to have a theoretical study on Chinese tense within the framework of SFL which holds that language is a system where meaning is the core part while form is just the realization of meaning. In addition, SFL is a general linguistic providing a universal framework for languages all over the world. Therefore, based on Systemic Functional Linguistics, the paper firstly redefines tense as a deictic semantic category for describing the speaker’s temporal location of processes and relevant temporal relations. With reference to this definition, this study explores the meaning system of tense. It is proposed that tense expresses four kinds of meaning, namely interpersonal, experiential, logical and textual meanings. From the interpersonal angle, tense helps to exchange temporal information between the speaker and the listener, and the temporal information refers to the anchoring of a concerned process in the past, present or future by the speaker. From the experiential angle, tense plays a role in the temporal locating of material, mental, relational, existential, behavioral and verbal processes by the speaker. From the logical angle, tense denotes the temporal relations at the two levels of clause and clause complex, and such relations fall into simultaneity, anteriority and posteriority. From the textual angle, tense refers to the temporal relations at the level of text, and the temporal relations in question concern linear serial relations and synchronous serial relations.

Keywords: Chinese, meaning system, Systemic Functional Linguistics, tense

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Authors: Shyam Mehraaj, Samanthi E. R. Siriwardana, Shehara A. K. G. H., Wanigasinghe N. T., Wandana R. A. K., Wedage C. V.

Abstract:

A presentation is a critical tool for conveying not just spoken information but also a wide spectrum of human emotions. The single most effective thing to make the presentation successful is to practice it beforehand. Preparing for a presentation has been shown to be essential for improving emotional control, intonation and prosody, pronunciation, and vocabulary, as well as the quality of the presentation slides. As a result, practicing has become one of the most critical parts of giving a good presentation. In this research, the main focus is to analyze the audio, video, and slides of the presentation uploaded by the presenters. This proposed solution is based on the Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision techniques to cater to the requirement for the presenter to do a presentation beforehand using a mobile responsive web application. The proposed system will assist in practicing the presentation beforehand by identifying the presenters’ emotions, body language, tonality, prosody, pronunciations and vocabulary, and presentation slides quality. Overall, the system will give a rating and feedback to the presenter about the performance so that the presenters’ can improve their presentation skills.

Keywords: presentation, self-evaluation, natural learning processing, computer vision

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Authors: Seyed Amin Vakili, Sahar Sadat Vakili, Seyed Ehsan Vakili, Nader Abdoli Yazdi

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to analyze the finite displacement of Columns by applying the Modified Newmark Method. This research will be performed on Columns subjected to compressive axial load, therefore the non-linearity of the geometry is also considered. If the considered strut is perfect, the governing differential equation contains a branching point in the solution path. Investigation into the Elastica is a part of generalizing the developed method. It presents the ability of the Modified Newmark Method in treating non-linear differential equations Derived from elastic strut stability problems. These include not only an approximate polynomial solution for the Elastica problems, but can also recognize the branching point and the stable solution. However, this investigation deals with the post-buckling response of elastic and pin ended columns subjected to central or equally eccentric axial loads.

Keywords: columns, structural modeling, structures & structural stability, loads

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Authors: A. Chávez, A. Rodríguez, F. Pinzón

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Society is concerned about measures of environmental, economic and social impacts generated in the solid waste disposal. These places of confinement, also known as landfills, are locations where problems of pollution and damage to human health are reduced. They are technically designed and operated, using engineering principles, storing the residue in a small area, compact it to reduce volume and covering them with soil layers. Problems preventing liquid (leachate) and gases produced by the decomposition of organic matter. Despite planning and site selection for disposal, monitoring and control of selected processes, remains the dilemma of the leachate as extreme concentration of pollutants, devastating soil, flora and fauna; aggressive processes requiring priority attention. A biological technology is the activated sludge system, used for tributaries with high pollutant loads. Since transforms biodegradable dissolved and particulate matter into CO2, H2O and sludge; transform suspended and no Settleable solids; change nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorous; and degrades heavy metals. The microorganisms that remove organic matter in the processes are in generally facultative heterotrophic bacteria, forming heterogeneous populations. Is possible to find unicellular fungi, algae, protozoa and rotifers, that process the organic carbon source and oxygen, as well as the nitrogen and phosphorus because are vital for cell synthesis. The mixture of the substrate, in this case sludge leachate, molasses and wastewater is maintained ventilated by mechanical aeration diffusers. Considering as the biological processes work to remove dissolved material (< 45 microns), generating biomass, easily obtained by decantation processes. The design consists of an artificial support and aeration pumps, favoring develop microorganisms (denitrifying) using oxygen (O) with nitrate, resulting in nitrogen (N) in the gas phase. Thus, avoiding negative effects of the presence of ammonia or phosphorus. Overall the activated sludge system includes about 8 hours of hydraulic retention time, which does not prevent the demand for nitrification, which occurs on average in a value of MLSS 3,000 mg/L. The extended aeration works with times greater than 24 hours detention; with ratio of organic load/biomass inventory under 0.1; and average stay time (sludge age) more than 8 days. This project developed a pilot system with sludge leachate from Doña Juana landfill - RSDJ –, located in Bogota, Colombia, where they will be subjected to a process of activated sludge and extended aeration through a sequential Bach reactor - SBR, to be dump in hydric sources, avoiding ecological collapse. The system worked with a dwell time of 8 days, 30 L capacity, mainly by removing values of BOD and COD above 90%, with initial data of 1720 mg/L and 6500 mg/L respectively. Motivating the deliberate nitrification is expected to be possible commercial use diffused aeration systems for sludge leachate from landfills.

Keywords: sludge, landfill, leachate, SBR

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Authors: Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Katiya Yassim, Venkatesha Prasad

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Input-intensive production systems characterise industrial agriculture as an unsustainable means to address food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. There is extensive empirical evidence that supports the diversification and reorientation of industrial agriculture and that incorporates ecological practices viewed as essential for achieving balanced and productive farming systems. An agroecological farming system is a viable alternative approach that can improve food production, especially for the most vulnerable communities and households. Furthermore, substantial proof and supporting evidence show that such a system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level and reducing the multiple health and environmental risks stemming from industrial agriculture. This paper, therefore, aims to demonstrate the benefits of the agroecology food system through an evidenced-based approach that shows how the broader agricultural network structures can play a meaningful role, particularly for impoverished households in today’s reality. The methodology is centered on a structured literature review that analyses urban agriculture, agroecology, and food insecurity. Notably, ground-truthing, practical experiences, and field observation of agroecological farming were deployed. This paper places particular emphasis on the practical application of the agroecological approach in urban and peri-urban settings. Several evaluation reports on local and provincial initiatives clearly show that very few households engage in food gardens and urban agriculture. These households do not make use of their backyards or nearby open spaces for a number of reasons, such as stringent city by-laws, restricted access to land, little or no knowledge of innovative or alternative farming practices, and a general lack of interest. Furthermore, limited resources such as water and energy and lack of capacity building and training implementation are additional constraints that are hampering small scale food gardens and farms in other settings. The Agroecology systems approach is viewed as one of the key solutions to tackling these problems.

Keywords: agroecology, water-energy-food nexus, sutainable development goals, social, environmental and economc impact

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Authors: Leila Ramezani, Mohammad Saeid Mossadegh

Abstract:

Different uses of land by humans alter the physico chemical characteristics of the soil and affect the soil microhabitat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of tillage in three different human land uses on microarthropods biodiversity in Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran. Three microhabitats including a permanent grassland with old Date-Palms around and no till system, and two wheat fields, one with conservative agricultural practices and low till system and the other with conventional agricultural practices (deep tillage), were compared for the biodiversity of the two main groups of soil microarthropods (Oribatida and Collembola). Soil samples were collected from the top to a depth of 15 cm bimonthly during a period of two years. Significant differences in the biodiversity index of microarthropods were observed between the different tillage systems (F = 36.748, P =0.000). Indeed, analysis of species diversity showed that the diversity index at the conservative field with low till (2.58 ± 0.01) was higher (p < 0.05) than the conventional tilled field (2.45 ± 0.08) and the diversity of natural grassland was the highest (2.79 ± 0.19, p < 0.05). Indeed, the index of biodiversity and population abundance differed significantly in different seasons (p < 0.00).

Keywords: biodiversity, Collembola, microarthropods, Oribatida

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Authors: M. Peña Aguilar Juan, E. Nava Galván Claudia, Pastrana Palma Alberto

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In this work was developed and implemented a thermal fogging disinfection system to counteract pathogens from poultry feces in agribusiness farms, to reduce mortality rates and increase biosafety in them. The control system consists of two phases for the conditioning of the farm during the sanitary break. In the first phase, viral and bacterial inactivation was performed by treating the stool dry cleaning, along with the development of a specialized product that foster the generation of temperatures above 55 °C in less than 24 hr, for virus inactivation. In the second phase, a process for disinfection by fogging was implemented, along with the development of a specialized disinfectant that guarantee no risk for the operators’ health or birds. As a result of this process, it was possible to minimize the level of mortality of chickens on farms from 12% to 5.49%, representing a reduction of 6.51% in the death rate, through the formula applied to the treatment of poultry litter based on oxidising agents used as antiseptics, hydrogen peroxide solutions, glacial acetic acid and EDTA in order to act on bacteria, viruses, micro bacteria and spores.

Keywords: innovation, triple helix, poultry farms, biosecurity

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