Search results for: regional hand defects

Authors: Suparwoko, M. Hardyan Prastyanto, Aisah Azhari Marwangi

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Today, we face with some paradoxical tendencies. In the field of culture, on the one hand, we are witnessing the emergence of ethnic and religious fervor that is becoming stronger, but on the other hand, we are also witnessing a new ideology that characterized the flow of transnationalism, globalism, and secularism. Through social media, the globalization movement is accommodated to spread all over the world. Globalization also requires the commercialization of many fields, including architecture. In the architecture of commercial buildings, the appeal of the building is an important aspect for the function of the building. That theory is the basis for research of this study. This study aimed to know the influence of social media on the changing trends in the design of restaurant in urban areas of Yogyakarta Province. This study is using observation (survey) method to restaurants in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas to collect data, then the assessment of data by using the theory of the social media Path and Instagram that provide trend information from interior and building facades of the restaurant. By using social media Path and Instagram based survey methods, it can be seen that the intensity of social media users who publish or promote restaurant that has been chosen. Generally, conventional character of the restaurant have changed into a material and visually conceptual restaurant.

Keywords: influence, social media, changes, architecture trend

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Akshat Mathur, Sunil Kumar Khatri

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This paper presents brief about how the use of Artificial intelligence in respect to GUI testing can reduce workload by using DL-fueled method. This paper also discusses about how graphical user interface and event driven software testing can derive benefits from the use of AI techniques. The use of AI techniques not only reduces the task and work load but also helps in getting better output than manual testing. Although results are same, but the use of Artifical intelligence techniques for GUI testing has proven to provide ideal results. DL-fueled framework helped us to find imperfections of the entire webpage and provides test failure result in a score format between 0 and 1which signifies that are test meets it quality criteria or not. This paper proposes DL-fueled method which helps us to find the genuine GUI bugs and defects and also helped us to scale the existing labour-intensive and skill-intensive methodologies.

Keywords: graphical user interface, GUI, artificial intelligence, deep learning, ML technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Anteneh Berhane Yeyi, Tefera Belachew

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Any woman who could become pregnant is at risk of having a baby with neural tube defects (NTDs). A spontaneous aborted women with immediately preceding pregnancy may have an increased risk of develop NTDs. Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of micronutrient deficiencies, including folate and iron deficiency. Currently, in Ethiopia, NTDs is emerged as a public health concern. Even if Ethiopia, has implement different strategies for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, there is no room in the health care system and lack of integration for preventing the risk of NTDs for those women who aborted spontaneously and women who discontinue long acting contraception to become pregnant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of preconception picture-based nutrition education on knowledge and adherence to iron-folic acid supplement (IFAS) intake to reduce the risk of developing neural tube defects (NTDs) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among women who had a planned to pregnancy in Ethiopia, a country with a high burden of NTDs. Methodology: This study was conducted in Eastern Ethiopia. A double blinded parallel randomized controlled trial design was employed among women in the age group of 18-45 years who requested to interrupt modern contraceptive who have an intention to be pregnant and women with spontaneous abortion who refused to take a contraceptive. The interventional arm (n=122) received a preconception picture-based nutrition education with iron-folic acid supplement, and the control arm (n=122) received only preconception IFAS. In this study male partners were participated. Result: After three months of intervention the proportion of adherence to IFAS was 23% (n=56). With regard to adherence within the groups, 42.6% (n=52) in the intervention group and 3.3% (n=4) in the control group and the intervention group were significantly higher than in control group. In the intervention group the proportion of adherence to IFAS intake among participants increased by 40.1% and there were statistically difference (P<0.0001). The difference in difference between the two groups of adherence to IFAS intake was 37.6% and there were a statistical significance (P<0.0001). Level of knowledge between the groups did differ before and after intervention (P= 0.87 Vs P<0.0001). The overall the mean change in knowledge Mean (+SE) between group was 0.9 (+3.04 SE) and there were significant differences between two groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: In general this intervention is effective toward adherence to IFAS and a critical milestone to improve maternal health and reduce the neonate mortality due to NTDs and other advert effect of pregnancy and birth outcomes. This intervention is very short, simple, and cost effective and has potential for adaptation, feasible development to large-scale implementation in the existing health care system. Furthermore, this type of interventional approach has the potential to reduce the country's ANC program dropout rates and increase male partner’s participation on reproductive health.

Keywords: NTDs, IFAS, WRA, Ethiopia

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Authors: Javad Yarmahmoudi, Alireza Mirzaee

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Many active and passive structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques have been developed for detection of the defects of plates. Generally, riveted joints hold the plates together and their failure may create accidents. In this study, well known active and passive methods were modified for the evaluation of the health of the riveted joints between the plates. The active method generated Lamb waves and monitored their propagation by using lead zirconate titanate (PZT) disks. The signal was analyzed by using the wavelet transformations. The passive method used the Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors and evaluated the spectral characteristics of the signals by using Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). The results indicated that the existing methods designed for the evaluation of the health of individual plates may be used for inspection of riveted joints with software modifications.

Keywords: structural health monitoring, SHM, active SHM, passive SHM, fiber bragg grating sensor, lead zirconate titanate, PZT

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Mersha Tewodros Getnet, Mengistu Ketema, Bamlaku Alemu, Girma Demilew

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The availability of forest products determines the possibilities for forest-based livelihood options. Plantation forest is a widespread economic activity in highland areas of the Amhara regional state, owing primarily to degradation and limited access to natural forests. As a result, tree plantation has become one of the rural livelihood options in the area. Therefore, given the increasing importance of smallholder plantations in highland areas of Amhara Regional States, the aim of this research was to evaluate the extent of smallholder plantations and their socio-economic impact. To address the abovementioned research, a sequential embedded mixed research design was employed. This qualitative and quantitative information was gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from 385 sample households, which were chosen using a three-stage, multi-stage sampling method based on the Cochran sample size formula. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Smallholder eucalyptus plantations in the study area were discovered to be common, and they are now part of the livelihood portfolio for meeting both household wood consumption and generating cash income. According to the PSM model's ATT results, income from selling farm forest products certainly contributes more to total household income, farm expenditure per cultivated land, and education spending than non-planter households. As a result, the government must strengthen plantation practices by prioritizing specific intervention areas while implementing measures to counteract the plantation's inequality-increasing effect through a variety of means, including progressive taxation.

Keywords: smallholder plantation, Eucalyptus, propensity score matching, average treatment effect and income

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Joanna Bielecka-Prus

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In the view of increasing number of labour migrations associated with broadly understood economic crisis, many families experience migration separation. Currently, in the era of globalization, migration movements include an increasing number of families, more and more frequently a new type of family, a transnational family. Accordingly, the functions of the family, family practice of care, and the relationships between members of the group change especially in the case of female migration. Sociologists highlight the emotional aspects of migrants’ family lives: managing emotions, coping with guilt, loneliness and rejection. Not without significance is the fact that today's public discourse often represents migrant women in a negative light. On the one hand, consumption and expanding material resources are assessed positively, on the other hand, deficits emotional and devastation of family life in the transnational families appear. Opinions expressed by different environments: the media, the political environment, etc. do not always take into account the context of mobility and their different effects on family life. The paper will present the analysis of qualitative studies of Polish female migrants’ families left-behind (children, parents, caregivers N = 100) and their coping strategies in different situations in the event of migration separation. The main area of care deficit will be defined and it will be showed who and how help to solve the problems.

Keywords: care, children left behind, female migration, parents left behind

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Sudip Kumar Kundu, Charu Singh

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As a great physiographic divide, the Himalayas affecting a large system of water and air circulation which helps to determine the climatic condition in the Indian subcontinent to the south and mid-Asian highlands to the north. It creates obstacles by defending chill continental air from north side into India in winter and also defends rain-bearing southwesterly monsoon to give up maximum precipitation in that area in monsoon season. Nowadays extreme weather conditions such as heavy precipitation, cloudburst, flash flood, landslide and extreme avalanches are the regular happening incidents in the region of North Western Himalayan (NWH). The present study has been planned to investigate the suitable model(s) to find out the rainfall pattern over that region. For this investigation, selected models from Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) has been utilized in a consistent framework for the period of 1976 to 2000 (historical). The ability of these driving models from CORDEX domain and CMIP5 has been examined according to their capability of the spatial distribution as well as time series plot of rainfall over NWH in the rainy season and compared with the ground-based Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) gridded rainfall data set. It is noted from the analysis that the models like MIROC5 and MPI-ESM-LR from the both CORDEX and CMIP5 provide the best spatial distribution of rainfall over NWH region. But the driving models from CORDEX underestimates the daily rainfall amount as compared to CMIP5 driving models as it is unable to capture daily rainfall data properly when it has been plotted for time series (TS) individually for the state of Uttarakhand (UK) and Himachal Pradesh (HP). So finally it can be said that the driving models from CMIP5 are better than CORDEX domain models to investigate the rainfall pattern over NWH region.

Keywords: global warming, rainfall, CMIP5, CORDEX, NWH

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: M. A. Riurean, S. Heijnen, C. A. Knott, J. Makinde, D. Gotti, J. VD. Kamp

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Objectives: The current study is done in preparation for a randomized controlled study investigating the effects of an implicit motor learning protocol implemented using an extension-supporting glove. It will explore different protocols to find out which is preferred when studying motor learn-ing in the chronic stroke population that struggles with hand spasticity. Design: This exploratory study will follow 24 individuals who have a chronic stroke (> 6 months) during their usual care journey. We will record the results of two 9-Hole Peg Tests (9HPT) done during their therapy ses-sions with a physiotherapist or in their home before and after 4 weeks of them wearing an exten-sion-supporting glove used to employ the to-be-studied protocols. The participants will wear the glove 3 times/week for one hour while performing their activities of daily living and record the times they wore it in a diary. Their experience will be monitored through telecommunication once every week. Subjects: Individuals that have had a stroke at least 6 months prior to participation, hand spasticity measured on the modified Ashworth Scale of maximum 3, and finger flexion motor control measured on the Motricity Index of at least 19/33. Exclusion criteria: extreme hemi-neglect. Methods: The participants will be randomly divided into 3 groups: one group using the glove in a pre-set way of decreasing support (implicit motor learning), one group using the glove in a self-controlled way of decreasing support (autonomous motor learning), and the third using the glove with constant support (as control). Before and after the 4-week period, there will be an intake session and a post-assessment session. Analysis: We will compare the results of the two 9HPTs to check whether the protocols were effective. Furthermore, we will compare the results between the three groups to find the preferred one. A qualitative analysis will be run of the experience of participants throughout the 4-week period. Expected results: We expect that the group using the implicit learning protocol will show superior results.

Keywords: implicit learning, hand spasticity, stroke, error minimization, motor task

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Monique M. Keller, Roline Barnes, Corlia Brandt

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Introduction Scientific evidence on the hand forces and the types of grasps measurement during daily tasks are lacking, leaving a gap in the field of hand rehabilitation and robotics. Measuring the grasp forces and types produced by the individual fingers during daily functional tasks is valuable to inform and grade rehabilitation practices for second to fifth metacarpal fractures with robust scientific evidence. Feix et al, 2016 identified the most extensive and complete grasp study that resulted in the GRASP taxonomy. Covid-19 virus changed data collection across the globe and safety precautions in research are essential to ensure the health of participants and researchers. Methodology A cross-sectional study investigated six healthy adults aged 20 to 59 years, pilot participants’ hand forces during 105 tasks. The tasks were categorized into five sections namely, personal care, transport and moving around, home environment and inside, gardening and outside, and office. The predominant grasp of each task was identified guided by the GRASP Taxonomy. Grasp forces were measured with 13mm force-sensing resistors glued onto a glove attached to each of the dominant and non-dominant hand’s individual fingers. Testing equipment included Flexiforce 13millimetres FSR .5" circle, calibrated prior to testing, 10k 1/4w resistors, Arduino pro mini 5.0v – compatible, Esp-01-kit, Arduino uno r3 – compatible board, USB ab cable - 1m, Ftdi ft232 mini USB to serial, Sil 40 inline connectors, ribbon cable combo male header pins, female to female, male to female, two gloves, glue to attach the FSR to glove, Arduino software programme downloaded on a laptop. Grip strength measurements with Jamar dynamometer prior to testing and after every 25 daily tasks were taken to will avoid fatigue and ensure reliability in testing. Covid-19 precautions included wearing face masks at all times, screening questionnaires, temperatures taken, wearing surgical gloves before putting on the testing gloves 1.5 metres long wires attaching the FSR to the Arduino to maintain social distance. Findings Predominant grasps observed during 105 tasks included, adducted thumb (17), lateral tripod (10), prismatic three fingers (12), small diameter (9), prismatic two fingers (9), medium wrap (7), fixed hook (5), sphere four fingers (4), palmar (4), parallel extension (4), index finger extension (3), distal (3), power sphere (2), tripod (2), quadpod (2), prismatic four fingers (2), lateral (2), large-diameter (2), ventral (2), precision sphere (1), palmar pinch (1), light tool (1), inferior pincher (1), and writing tripod (1). Range of forces applied per category, personal care (1-25N), transport and moving around (1-9 N), home environment and inside (1-41N), gardening and outside (1-26.5N), and office (1-20N). Conclusion Scientifically measurements of finger forces with careful consideration to types of grasps used in daily tasks should guide rehabilitation practices and robotic design to ensure a return to the full participation of the individual into the community.

Keywords: activities of daily living (ADL), Covid-19, force-sensing resistors, grasps, hand forces

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: N. P. Yadav, Deepti Verma

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This paper focuses on the mathematical modeling for solidification of Al alloy in a cube mould cavity to study the solidification behavior of casting process. The parametric investigation of solidification process inside the cavity was performed by using computational solidification/melting model coupled with Volume of fluid (VOF) model. The implicit filling algorithm is used in this study to understand the overall process from the filling stage to solidification in a model metal casting process. The model is validated with past studied at same conditions. The solidification process are analyzed by including the effect of pouring velocity and temperature of liquid metal, effect of wall temperature as well natural convection from the wall and geometry of the cavity. These studies show the possibility of various defects during solidification process.

Keywords: buoyancy driven flow, natural convection driven flow, residual flow, secondary flow, volume of fluid

Procedia PDF Downloads 413

Authors: Hussein Moselhy, Islam Salam

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There have been some challenges and problems which hinder the implementation of the e-marketing systems such as the high cost of information systems infrastructure and maintenance as well as their unavailability within the institution. Also, there is no system which supports all programming languages and different platforms. Another problem is the lack of integration between these systems on one hand and the operating systems and different web browsers on the other hand. No system for customer relationship management is established which recognizes their desires and puts them in consideration while performing e-marketing functions is available. Therefore, the service-oriented architecture emerged as one of the most important techniques and methodologies to build systems that integrate with various operating systems and different platforms and other technologies. This technology allows realizing the data exchange among different applications. The service-oriented architecture represents distributed computing concepts to demonstrate its success in achieving the requirements of systems through web services. It also reflects the appropriate design for the services to use different web services in supporting the requirements of business processes and software users. In a service-oriented environment, web services are deployed on the web in the form of independent services to be accessed without knowledge of the nature of the programs and systems with in. This Paper presents a proposal for a new model which contributes to the application of methods and means of e-marketing with the integration of marketing mix elements to improve marketing efficiency (E-MSOA). And apply it in the educational city of one of the Egyptian sector.

Keywords: service-oriented architecture, electronic commerce, virtual retailing, unified modeling language

Procedia PDF Downloads 425

Authors: Melissa Lubitz

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Water scarcity is one of the crucial challenges of our time. There needs to be a focus on creating a society where people and nature flourish, regardless of climatic conditions. One of the solutions we can look to is decentralized greywater recycling. The vision is simple. Every building has its own water source being greywater from the bath, shower, sink and washing machine. By treating this in the home, you can save 25-45% of potable water use and wastewater production, a reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This reusable water is clean, and safe to be used for toilet flushing, washing machine, and outdoor irrigation. Companies like Hydraloop have been committed to the greywater recycle-ready building concept for years. This means that drinking water conservation and water reuse are included as standards in the design of all new buildings. Sustainability and renewal go hand in hand. This vision includes not only optimizing water savings and waste reduction but also forging strong partnerships that bring this ambition to life. Together with regulators, municipalities and builders, a sustainable and water-conscious future is pursued. This is an opportunity to be part of a movement that is making a difference. By pushing this initiative forward, we become part of a growing community that resists dehydration, believes in sustainability, and is committed to a living environment at the forefront of change: sustainable living, where saving water is the norm and where we shape the future together.

Keywords: greywater, wastewater treatment, water conservation, circular water society

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Ehsan Sadie

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Despite the experience of heavy losses and damages of recent earthquakes such as 8 km E of Pāhala, Hawaii, 11 km W of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic and 49 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic earthquakes, the possibility of large earthquakes in most populated areas of any country and the serious need for quality control in the design and implementation of buildings, not enough attention has been paid to the proper construction. Steel structures constitute a significant part of construction in any metropolitan area. This article gives a brief overview of the implementation status of these buildings in urban areas and considers the weaknesses of performance that typically occur due to negligence or insufficient mastery of the building supervisor in the principles of operation of earthquake-resistant buildings, and provide appropriate and possible solutions to improve the construction.

Keywords: bracing member, concentrated load, diaphragm system, earthquake engineering, load-bearing system, shear force, seismic retrofitting, steel building, strip foundation, supervising engineer, vulnerability of building

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Yun-Husan Huang

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Many English for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Therefore, the issue of regional application and usefulness of globally published ESP textbooks has received much debate. For ESP instructors, textbook selection is definitely a priority consideration for curriculum design. An appropriate ESP textbook can facilitate teaching and learning, while an inappropriate one may cause a disaster for both teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the regional application and usefulness of an ESP textbook for information technology (IT). Participants were 51 sophomores majoring in Applied Informatics and Multimedia at a university in Taiwan. As they were non-English majors, their English proficiency was mostly at elementary and elementary-to-intermediate levels. This course was offered for two semesters. The textbook selected was Oxford English for Information Technology. At class end, the students were required to complete a survey comprising five choices of Very Easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, and Very Difficult for each item. Based on the content design of the textbook, the survey investigated how the students viewed the difficulty of grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials of the textbook. In terms of difficulty, results reveal that only 22% of them found the grammar section difficult and very difficult. For listening, 71% responded difficult and very difficult. For general reading, 55% responded difficult and very difficult. For speaking, 56% responded difficult and very difficult. For writing, 78% responded difficult and very difficult. For advanced reading, 90% reported difficult and very difficult. These results indicate that, except the grammar section, more than half of the students found the textbook contents difficult in terms of listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials. Such contradictory results between the easy grammar section and the difficult four language skills sections imply that the textbook designers do not well understand the English learning background of regional ESP learners. For the participants, the learning contents of the grammar section were the general grammar level of junior high school, while the learning contents of the four language skills sections were more of the levels of college English majors. Implications from the findings are obtained for instructors and textbook designers. First of all, existing ESP textbooks for IT are few and thus textbook selections for instructors are insufficient. Second, existing globally published textbooks for IT cannot be applied to learners of all English proficiency levels, especially the low level. With limited textbook selections, third, instructors should modify the selected textbook contents or supplement extra ESP materials to meet the proficiency level of target learners. Fourth, local ESP publishers should collaborate with local ESP instructors who understand best the learning background of their students in order to develop appropriate ESP textbooks for local learners. Even though the instructor reduced learning contents and simplified tests in curriculum design, in conclusion, the students still found difficult. This implies that in addition to the instructor’s professional experience, there is a need to understand the usefulness of the textbook from learner perspectives.

Keywords: ESP textbooks, ESP materials, ESP textbook design, learner perspectives on ESP textbooks

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Authors: Tripti Singh

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Digital tools are merging boundaries of different mediums as endeavoured artists exploring new areas. Digital fabric printing has motivated artists to create prints by combining images acquired by photograph, scanned images, computer graphics and microscopic imaginary etc to name few, with traditional media such as hand drawing, weaving, hand printed patterns, printing making techniques and so on. It opened whole new world of possibilities for artists to search, research and combine old and contemporary mediums for their unique art prints. As artistic medium digital art fabrics have aesthetic values which have impact and influence on not only on a personality but also interiors of a living or work space. In this way it can be worn, as fashion statement and also an interior decoration. Digital art fabric prints gives opportunity to print almost everything on any fabric with long lasting prints quality. Single edition and limited editions are possible for maintaining scarcity and uniqueness of an art form. These fabric prints fulfill today’s need, as they are eco-friendly in nature and they produce less wastage compared to traditional fabric printing techniques. These prints can be used to make unique and customized curtains, quilts, clothes, bags, furniture, dolls, pillows, framed artwork, costumes, banners and much, much more. This paper will explore the procedure, process, and progress techniques of digital art fabric printing in depth with suitable pictorial examples.

Keywords: digital art, fabric prints, digital fabric prints, new media

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Authors: Ezra Kavana

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This article analyses the role those East African countries play in enforcing crude oil pipeline regulations. The paper finds that countries are more likely to have responsibility for enforcing these regulations if they have larger networks of gathering and transmission lines and if their citizens are more liberal and more pro-environment., Pipeline operations, transportation costs, new pipeline construction, and environmental effects are all heavily controlled. All facets of pipeline systems and the facilities connected to them are governed by statutory bodies. In order to support the project manager on such new pipeline projects, companies building and running these pipelines typically include personnel and consultants who specialize in these permitting processes. The primary permissions that can be necessary for pipelines carrying different commodities are mentioned in this paper. National, regional, and local municipalities each have their own permits. Through their right-of-way group, the contractor's project compliance leadership is typically directly responsible for obtaining those permits, which are typically obtained through government agencies. The whole list of local permits needed for a planned pipeline can only be found after a careful field investigation. A country's government regulates pipelines that are entirely within its borders. With a few exceptions, state regulations governing ratemaking and safety have been enacted to be consistent with regulatory requirements. Countries that produce a lot of energy are typically more involved in regulating pipelines than countries that produce little to no energy. To identify the proper regulatory authority, it is important to research the several government agencies that regulate pipeline transportation. Additionally, it's crucial that the scope determination of a planned project engage with a various external professional with experience in linear facilities or the company's pipeline construction and environmental professional to identify and obtain any necessary design clearances, permits, or approvals. These professionals can offer precise estimations of the costs and length of time needed to process necessary permits. Governments with a stronger energy sector, on the other hand, are less likely to take on control. However, the performance of the pipeline or national enforcement activities are unaffected significantly by whether a government has taken on control. Financial fines are the most efficient government enforcement instrument because they greatly reduce occurrences and property damage.

Keywords: crude oil, pipeline, regulatory compliance, and construction permits

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Saif K. Al-Qaisi, Jad R. Mansour, Aseel W. Sakka, Yousef Al-Abdallat

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Handwheels are common to numerous industries, such as power generation plants, oil refineries, and chemical processing plants. The forces required to manually turn handwheels have been shown to exceed operators’ physical strengths, posing risks for injuries. Therefore, the objectives of this research were twofold: (1) to determine humans’ physical strengths on handwheels of different sizes and angles and (2) to subsequently propose recommended torque limits (RTLs) that accommodate the strengths of even the weaker segment of the population. Thirty male and thirty female participants were recruited from a university student population. Participants were asked to exert their maximum possible forces in a counter-clockwise direction on handwheels of different sizes (35 cm, 45 cm, 60 cm, and 70 cm) and angles (0°-horizontal, 45°-slanted, and 90°-vertical). The participant’s posture was controlled by adjusting the handwheel to be at the elbow level of each participant, requiring the participant to stand erect, and restricting the hand placements to be in the 10-11 o’clock position for the left hand and the 4-5 o’clock position for the right hand. A torque transducer (Futek TDF600) was used to measure the maximum torques generated by the human. Three repetitions were performed for each handwheel condition, and the average was computed. Results showed that, at all handwheel angles, as the handwheel diameter increased, the maximum torques generated also increased, while the underlying forces decreased. In controlling the handwheel diameter, the 0° handwheel was associated with the largest torques and forces, and the 45° handwheel was associated with the lowest torques and forces. Hence, a larger handwheel diameter –as large as 70 cm– in a 0° angle is favored for increasing the torque production capacities of users. Also, it was recognized that, regardless of the handwheel diameter size and angle, the torque demands in the field are much greater than humans’ torque production capabilities. As such, this research proposed RTLs for the different handwheel conditions by using the 25th percentile values of the females’ torque strengths. The proposed recommendations may serve future standard developers in defining torque limits that accommodate humans’ strengths.

Keywords: handwheel angle, handwheel diameter, humans’ torque production strengths, recommended torque limits

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Authors: Jiawei Li

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How cooperation emerges and persists in a population of selfish agents is a fundamental question in evolutionary game theory. Our research shows that Collective Strategies with Master-Slave Mechanism (CSMSM) defeat Tit-for-Tat and other well-known strategies in spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma. A CSMSM identifies kin members by means of a handshaking mechanism. If the opponent is identified as non-kin, a CSMSM will always defect. Once two CSMSMs meet, they play master and slave roles. A mater defects and a slave cooperates in order to maximize the master’s payoff. CSMSM outperforms non-collective strategies in spatial IPD even if there is only a small cluster of CSMSMs in the population. The existence and performance of CSMSM in spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma suggests that cooperation first appears and persists in a group of collective agents.

Keywords: Evolutionary game theory, spatial prisoners dilemma, collective strategy, master-slave mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Simone Belli, Sergio Minniti, Valeria Santoro

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ICTs and technology transfer can benefit and move a country forward in economic and social development. However, ICT and access to the Internet have been inequitably distributed in most developing countries. In terms of science production and dissemination, this divide articulates itself also through the inequitable distribution of access to scientific knowledge and networks, which results in the exclusion of developing countries from the center of science. Developing countries are on the fringe of Science and Technology (S&T) production due not only to low investment in research but also to the difficulties to access international scholarly literature. In this respect, Open access (OA) initiatives and knowledge infrastructure represent key elements for both producing significant changes in scholarly communication and reducing the problems of developing countries. The spreading of the OA movement in the region, exemplified by the growth of regional and national initiatives, such as the creation of OA institutional repositories (e.g. SciELO and Redalyc) and the establishing of supportive governmental policies, provides evidence of the significant role that OA is playing in reducing the scientific gap between Latin American countries and improving their participation in the so-called ‘global knowledge commons’. In this paper, we map OA publications in Latin America and observe how Latin American countries are moving forward and becoming a leading force in widening access to knowledge. Our analysis, developed as part of the H2020 EULAC Focus research project, is based on mixed methods and consists mainly of a bibliometric analysis of OA publications indexed in the most important scientific databases (Web of Science and Scopus) and OA regional repositories, as well as the qualitative analysis of documents related to the main OA initiatives in Latin America. Through our analysis, we aim at reflecting critically on what policies, international standards, and best practices might be adapted to incorporate OA worldwide and improve the infrastructure of the global knowledge commons.

Keywords: open access, LAC countries, scientific publications, bibliometric analysis

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Authors: M. Al Azri, M. Elzain, K. Bouziane, S. M. Chérif

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n-Type 6H-SiC(0001) substrates were implanted with three fluencies of Mn+ 5x1015 Mn/cm2 (Mn content: 0.7%), 1x1016 (~2 %), and 5x1016 cm–2 (7%) with implantation energy of 80 keV and substrate temperature of 365ºC. The samples were characterized using Rutherford Backscattering and Channeling Spectroscopy (RBS/C), High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction technique (HRXRD), micro-Raman Spectroscopy (μRS), and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) techniques. The aim of our work is to investigate implantation induced defects with dose and to study any correlation between disorder-composition and magnetic properties. In addition, ab-initio calculations were used to investigate the structural and magnetic properties of Mn-doped 6H-SiC. Various configurations of Mn sites and vacancy types were considered. The calculations showed that a substitutional Mn atom at Si site possesses larger magnetic moment than Mn atom at C site. A model is introduced to explain the dependence of the magnetic structure on site occupation. The magnetic properties of ferromagnetically (FM) and antiferromagnetically (AFM) coupled pairs of Mn atoms with and without neighboring vacancies have also been explored.

Keywords: ab-initio calculations, diluted magnetic semiconductors, magnetic properties, silicon carbide

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Authors: Ivan Todorović, Stefan Komazec, Jelena Anđelković-Labrović, Ondrej Jaško, Miha Marič

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Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are important factors of the economy in each country. Recent years have brought increased number and higher sophistication of scientific research related to numerous aspects of entrepreneurship. Various authors try to find the positive correlation between entrepreneur's personal characteristics, skills and knowledge on one hand, and company growth and success of small business on the other hand. Different models recognize staff as one of the key elements in every organizational system. Human resource (HR) function is present in almost all large companies, despite the geographical location or industry. Small and medium enterprises also often have separate positions or even departments for HR administration. However, in early stages of organizational life cycle human resources are usually managed by the founder, entrepreneur. In this paper we want to question whether the companies where founder, entrepreneur, recognizes the significance of human capital in the organization and understands the importance of HR management have higher growth rate and better business results. The findings of this research can be implemented in practice, but also in the academia, for improving the curricula related to the MSME and entrepreneurship.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, MSME, micro small and medium enterprises, company growth, human resources, HR management

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Florian Wohlfeil, Orestis Terzidis, Louisa Hellmann

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Radical technological innovations enable companies to reach strong market positions and are thus desirable. On the other hand, the innovation process is related to significant costs and risks. Hence, the knowledge of the factors that influence success is crucial for technology driven companies. In a previous study, we have developed a conceptual framework of 25 Critical Success Factors for radical technological innovations and mapped them to four main categories: Technology, Organization, Market, and Process. We refer to it as the Technology-Organization-Market-Process (TOMP) framework. Taking the TOMP framework as a reference model, we conducted a structured and focused literature review of eleven standard books on the topic of radical technological innovation. With this approach, we aim to evaluate, expand, and clarify the set of Critical Success Factors detailed in the TOMP framework. Overall, the set of factors and their allocation to the main categories of the TOMP framework could be confirmed. However, the factor organizational home is not emphasized and discussed in most of the reviewed literature. On the other hand, an additional factor that has not been part of the TOMP framework is described to be important – strategy fit. Furthermore, the factors strategic alliances and platform strategy appear in the literature but in a different context compared to the reference model.

Keywords: Critical Success Factors, radical technological innovation, TOMP framework, innovation process

Procedia PDF Downloads 655

Authors: E. A. Krasikov

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As the service life of an operating nuclear power plant (NPP) increases, the potential misunderstanding of the degradation of aging components must receive more attention. Integrity assurance analysis contributes to the effective maintenance of adequate plant safety margins. In essence, the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is the key structural component determining the NPP lifetime. Environmentally induced cracking in the stainless steel corrosion-preventing cladding of RPV’s has been recognized to be one of the technical problems in the maintenance and development of light-water reactors. Extensive cracking leading to failure of the cladding was found after 13000 net hours of operation in JPDR (Japan Power Demonstration Reactor). Some of the cracks have reached the base metal and further penetrated into the RPV in the form of localized corrosion. Failures of reactor internal components in both boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors have increased after the accumulation of relatively high neutron fluences (5´1020 cm–2, E>0,5MeV). Therefore, in the case of cladding failure, the problem arises of hydrogen (as a corrosion product) embrittlement of irradiated RPV steel because of exposure to the coolant. At present when notable progress in plasma physics has been obtained practical energy utilization from fusion reactors (FR) is determined by the state of material science problems. The last includes not only the routine problems of nuclear engineering but also a number of entirely new problems connected with extreme conditions of materials operation – irradiation environment, hydrogenation, thermocycling, etc. Limiting data suggest that the combined effect of these factors is more severe than any one of them alone. To clarify the possible influence of the in-service synergistic phenomena on the FR structural materials properties we have studied hydrogen-irradiated steel interaction including alternating hydrogenation and heat treatment (annealing). Available information indicates that the life of the first wall could be expanded by means of periodic in-place annealing. The effects of neutron fluence and irradiation temperature on steel/hydrogen interactions (adsorption, desorption, diffusion, mechanical properties at different loading velocities, post-irradiation annealing) were studied. Experiments clearly reveal that the higher the neutron fluence and the lower the irradiation temperature, the more hydrogen-radiation defects occur, with corresponding effects on the steel mechanical properties. Hydrogen accumulation analyses and thermal desorption investigations were performed to prove the evidence of hydrogen trapping at irradiation defects. Extremely high susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement was observed with specimens which had been irradiated at relatively low temperature. However, the susceptibility decreases with increasing irradiation temperature. To evaluate methods for the RPV’s residual lifetime evaluation and prediction, more work should be done on the irradiated metal–hydrogen interaction in order to monitor more reliably the status of irradiated materials.

Keywords: hydrogen, radiation, stability, structural steel

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Merieleen Engtipi

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India's total share of global population is nearly 18%; however, its per capita energy consumption is only one-third of global average. The demand and supply of electricity are uneven in the country; around 240 million of the population have no access to electricity. However, with India's trajectory for modernisation and economic growth, the demand for energy is only expected to increase. India is at a crossroad, on the one hand facing the increasing demand for energy and on the other hand meeting the Paris climate policy commitments, and further the struggle to provide efficient energy. This paper analyses the policies to meet India’s need for energy, as the per capita energy consumption is likely to be double in 6-7 years period. Simultaneously, India's Paris commitment requires curbing of carbon emission from fossil fuels. There is an increasing need for renewables to be cheaply and efficiently available in the market and for clean technology to extract fossil fuels to meet climate policy goals. Fossil fuels are the most significant generator of energy in India; with the Paris agreement, the demand for clean energy technology is increasing. Finally, the U.S. decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; however, the two countries plan to continue engaging bilaterally on energy issues. The U.S. energy cooperation under Trump administration is significantly vital for greater energy security, transfer of technology and efficiency in energy supply and demand.

Keywords: energy demand, energy cooperation, fossil fuels, technology transfer

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Avinash

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Rural Jharkhand has attracted lesser attention in the field of agrarian studies in India, despite more than eighty percent of its rural population being directly dependent on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. The limited studies on agrarian issues in Jharkhand have focused predominantly on the subsistence nature of agriculture and low crop productivity. There has also not been much research on agrarian social relations between ‘tribe’ and ‘non-tribe’ communities in the region. This paper is an attempt to understand changing agrarian social relations between tribal and non-tribal communities relating them to different kinds of agrarian transitions taking place in two districts of Jharkhand - Palamu and Khunti. In the Palamu region, agrarian relations are dominated by the presence and significant population size of Hindu high caste land owners, whereas in the Khunti region, agrarian relations are characterized by the population size and dominance of tribes and lower caste land owner cum cultivators. The agrarian relations between ‘upper castes’ and ‘tribes’ in these regions are primarily related to agricultural daily wage labour. However, the agrarian social relations between Dalits and tribal people take the form of ‘communal system of labour exchange’ and ‘household-based labour’. In addition, the ethnographic study of the region depicts steady agrarian transitions (especially shift from indigenous to ‘High Yielding Variety’ (HYV) paddy seeds and growing vegetable cultivation) where ‘Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) and agricultural input manufacturers and suppliers are playing a critical role in agrarian transitions as intermediaries. While agricultural productivity still remains low, both the regions are witnessing slow but gradual agrarian transitions. Rural-urban linkages in the form of seasonal labour migration are creating capital and technical inflows that are transforming agricultural activities. This study describes and interprets the above changes through the lens of ‘regional rurality’.

Keywords: agrarian transitions, rural Jharkhand, regional rurality, tribe and non-tribe

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Mahnaz Manafi Dizaj Yekan, Mostafa Mazaheri Tehrani, Javad Hesari

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Physicochemical properties of Ultrafiltered White cheese analogues made with substituting 1/3 and 2/3 of the dairy fat with vegetable fat, margarine, were studied during ripening. Results showed replacement of milk fat by margarine made to more hardness and springiness in cheese samples and overcome to softening of texture as one of the main defects of UF white cheeses. Analysis of Fatty acids Profiles of samples fat by Gas Chromatography revealed cheese analogues samples had higher ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids and can led to improve nutritional quality of product. Sensorial characteristics of analogue cheeses were similar to control samples with respect to color but better than control samples in stiffness, while overall acceptance of analogues with 1/3 fat replacement was similar to control cheeses and better than analogue cheeses with 2/3 fat replacement.

Keywords: analogue cheese, uf white cheese, margarine, stiffness, springiness, fatty acids profiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 452

Authors: Elias Jemal Abdella

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The Blue Nile River is an important shared resource of Ethiopia, Sudan and also, because it is the major contributor of water to the main Nile River, Egypt. Despite the potential benefits of regional cooperation and integrated joint basin management, all three countries continue to pursue unilateral plans for development. Besides, there is great uncertainty about the likely impacts of climate change in water availability for existing as well as proposed irrigation and hydropower projects in the Blue Nile Basin. The main objective of this study is to quantitatively assess the impact of climate change on the hydrological regime of the upper Blue Nile basin, western Ethiopia. Three models were combined, a dynamic Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) regional climate model (RCM) that is used to determine climate projections for the Upper Blue Nile basin for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 greenhouse gas emissions scenarios for the period 2021-2050. The outputs generated from multimodel ensemble of four (4) CORDEX-RCMs (i.e., rainfall and temperature) were used as input to a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model which was setup, calibrated and validated with observed climate and hydrological data. The outputs from the SWAT model (i.e., projections in river flow) were used as input to a Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) water resources model which was used to determine the water resources implications of the changes in climate. The WEAP model was set-up to simulate three development scenarios. Current Development scenario was the existing water resource development situation, Medium-term Development scenario was planned water resource development that is expected to be commissioned (i.e. before 2025) and Long-term full Development scenario were all planned water resource development likely to be commissioned (i.e. before 2050). The projected change of mean annual temperature for period (2021 – 2050) in most of the basin are warmer than the baseline (1982 -2005) average in the range of 1 to 1.4oC, implying that an increase in evapotranspiration loss. Subbasins which already distressed from drought may endure to face even greater challenges in the future. Projected mean annual precipitation varies from subbasin to subbasin; in the Eastern, North Eastern and South western highland of the basin a likely increase of mean annual precipitation up to 7% whereas in the western lowland part of the basin mean annual precipitation projected to decrease by 3%. The water use simulation indicates that currently irrigation demand in the basin is 1.29 Bm3y-1 for 122,765 ha of irrigation area. By 2025, with new schemes being developed, irrigation demand is estimated to increase to 2.5 Bm3y-1 for 277,779 ha. By 2050, irrigation demand in the basin is estimated to increase to 3.4 Bm3y-1 for 372,779 ha. The hydropower generation simulation indicates that 98 % of hydroelectricity potential could be produced if all planned dams are constructed.

Keywords: Blue Nile River, climate change, hydropower, SWAT, WEAP

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: M. A. El-Sayed, S. A. Aziz

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Centrifugal casting is a standard casting technique for the manufacture of hollow, intricate and sound castings without the use of cores. The molten metal or alloy poured into the rotating mold forms a hollow casting as the centrifugal forces lift the liquid along the mold inner surface. The rotational speed of the die was suggested to greatly affect the manner in which the molten metal flows within the mould and consequently the probability of the formation of a uniform cylinder. In this work the flow of the liquid metal at various speeds and its effect during casting were studied. The results suggested that there was a critical range for the speed, within which the produced castings exhibited best uniformity and maximum mechanical properties. When a mould was rotated at speeds below or beyond the critical range defects were found in the final castings, which affected the uniformity and significantly lowered the mechanical properties.

Keywords: centrifugal casting, rotational speed, critical speed range, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 442

Authors: Abdulnasser S. Saleh

Abstract:

The importance of metal-semiconductor interfaces comes from the fact that most electronic devices are interconnected using metallic wiring that forms metal–semiconductor contacts. The properties of these contacts can vary considerably depending on the nature of the interface with the semiconductor. Variable-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy has been applied to study interfaces in Al/Si, Au/Si, and Au/GaAs structures. A computational modeling by ROYPROF program is used to analyze Doppler broadening results in order to determine kinds of regions that positrons are likely to sample. In all fittings, the interfaces are found 1 nm thick and act as an absorbing sink for positrons diffusing towards them and may be regarded as highly defective. Internal electric fields were found to influence positrons diffusing to the interfaces and unable to force them cross to the other side. The materials positron affinities are considered in understanding such motion. The results of these theoretical fittings have clearly demonstrated the sensitivity of interfaces in any fitting attempts of analyzing positron spectroscopy data and gave valuable information about metal-semiconductor interfaces.

Keywords: interfaces, semiconductor, positron, defects

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Dana Hisham Mohamed Abdrabo

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The paper examines the effect of Drama works on the Egyptian public opinion regarding the religion of Judaism, Israel as a state and the Jew's image to Egyptian Muslims. The paper examines the role of Media and in particular, Dramas on achieving interreligious dialogue between Judaism and Islam and its role in making peace between the Egyptian Muslims -and Arabs in general- on the one hand, and the Jew on the other hand, and the implications of this on the relationship between Arab countries and Israel as a state. The research uses the Survey method with Egyptian Muslims as a main sample for the research to examine such effect. Dramas have a role in presenting the Jew, Judaism, and Israel as a state and as a political system in various ways. The paper is related to multidisciplinary fields; it is related to political sciences, political sociology, communication, social change, and cognitive sociology fields. The research adds a new analytical study for a new tool for the peacemaking process in the Middle East region through adopting an interdisciplinary approach which is needed in the studies aim to achieve stability and peace in the Middle East region and its neighboring countries.

Keywords: dramas tool, Egyptian public opinion, interreligious dialogue, Israel & Egyptian relations , Judaism

Procedia PDF Downloads 205