Search results for: forward topology

Authors: Aslihan Caliskan

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The term Mediterranean comes from the Latin “mediterraneus” (Medius, "middle" plus Terra, "land, earth"). For the ancient Romans, the Mediterranean was the center of the earth as they knew it. The desire to gain control of the Mediterranean has led to disputes between many nations throughout history, some of which continue to this day. The recent major natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean have aggravated ongoing tensions in some neighboring countries. The sea border dispute between Turkey and Greece & Greek-Cypriot side is one of the most critical conflicts in the Mediterranean Sea region. This unresolved dispute has many implications for all countries involved, as well as for third parties that have direct or indirect interests in the region. The research question of this context is what are the implications of this controversial sea border problem on the maritime security of Turkey and its military spending. In this paper, the quantitative method is used. Records from the Turkish Defense Ministry, data from the Turkish naval forces have been obtained. In addition, literature research and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) application cases were evaluated, and an incident analysis was carried out. This research shows that the sea border dispute issue has a significant impact on the Turkish military both in terms of the structures required to ensure maritime and border security, as well as rising military costs and its macroeconomic implications. The paper begins with a brief overview of relevant principles and methods applied for delimiting th esea borders. The paper continues with a brief description and a background of the sea border dispute between Turkey and Greece & Greek-Cypriot side in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). An analysis of the implications of the dispute on Turkey’s maritime security and its military spending is provided in the following chapters. The paper ends with concluding remarks of the author, including suggestions for the way forward.

Keywords: sea border security, mediterranean sea, greece-turkey dispute, limitation of sea, united nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS)

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Authors: Morteza Ahmadifar, Sarah Bahari Derakhshan

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Leakage is one of the most important problems that water distribution networks face which first reason is high-pressure existence. There are many approaches to control this excess pressure, which using pressure reducing valves (PRVs) or reducing pipe diameter are ones. On the other hand, Pumps are using electricity or fossil fuels to supply needed pressure in distribution networks but excess pressure are made in some branches due to topology problems and water networks’ variables, therefore using pressure valves will be inevitable. Although using PRVs is inevitable but it leads to waste electricity or fuels used by pumps because PRVs just waste excess hydraulic pressure to lower it. Pumps working in reverse or Pumps as Turbine (called PAT in this article) are easily available and also effective sources of reducing the equipment cost in small hydropower plants. Urban areas of developing countries are facing increasing in area and maybe water scarcity in near future. These cities need wider water networks which make it hard to predict, control and have a better operation in the urban water cycle. Using more energy and therefore more pollution, slower repairing services, more user dissatisfaction and more leakage are these networks’ serious problems. Therefore, more effective systems are needed to monitor and act in these complicated networks than what is used now. In this article a new approach is proposed and evaluated: Using PAT to produce enough energy for remote valves and sensors in the water network. These sensors can be used to determine the discharge, pressure, water quality and other important network characteristics. With the help of remote valves pipeline discharge can be controlled so Instead of wasting excess hydraulic pressure which may be destructive in some cases, obtaining extra pressure from pipeline and producing clean electricity used by remote instruments is this articles’ goal. Furthermore, due to increasing the area of network there is unwanted high pressure in some critical points which is not destructive but lowering the pressure results to longer lifetime for pipeline networks without users’ dissatisfaction. This strategy proposed in this article, leads to use PAT widely for pressure containment and producing energy needed for remote valves and sensors like what happens in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems which make it easy for us to monitor, receive data from urban water cycle and make any needed changes in discharge and pressure of pipelines easily and remotely. This is a clean project of energy production without significant environmental impacts and can be used in urban drinking water networks, without any problem for consumers which leads to a stable and dynamic network which lowers leakage and pollution.

Keywords: clean energies, pump as turbine, remote control, urban water distribution network

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Authors: Nazim Mir-Nasiri, Hudyjaya Siswoyo Jo

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The paper describes conceptual design, control strategies, and partial simulation for a new fully autonomous lower limb wearable exoskeleton system for human motion enhancement that can support its weight and increase strength and endurance. Various problems still remain to be solved where the most important is the creation of a power and cost efficient system that will allow an exoskeleton to operate for extended period without batteries being frequently recharged. The designed exoskeleton is enabling to decouple the weight/mass carrying function of the system from the forward motion function which reduces the power and size of propulsion motors and thus the overall weight, cost of the system. The decoupling takes place by blocking the motion at knee joint by placing passive air cylinder across the joint. The cylinder is actuated when the knee angle has reached the minimum allowed value to bend. The value of the minimum bending angle depends on usual walk style of the subject. The mechanism of the exoskeleton features a seat to rest the subject’s body weight at the moment of blocking the knee joint motion. The mechanical structure of each leg has six degrees of freedom: four at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. Exoskeleton legs are attached to subject legs by using flexible cuffs. The operation of all actuators depends on the amount of pressure felt by the feet pressure sensors and knee angle sensor. The sensor readings depend on actual posture of the subject and can be classified in three distinct cases: subject stands on one leg, subject stands still on both legs and subject stands on both legs but transit its weight from one leg to other. This exoskeleton is power efficient because electrical motors are smaller in size and did not participate in supporting the weight like in all other existing exoskeleton designs.

Keywords: energy efficient system, exoskeleton, motion enhancement, robotics

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Authors: Hailu Kebede Bekele

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Construction delays are suitable where project events occur at a certain time expected due to causes related to the client, consultant, and contractor. Delay is the major cause of the cost overrun that leads to the poor efficiency of the project. The cost difference between completion and the originally estimated is known as cost overrun. The common ways of cost overruns are not simple issues that can be neglected, but more attention should be given to prevent the organization from being devastated to be failed, and financial expenses to be extended. The reasons that may raised in different studies show that the problem may arise in construction projects due to errors in budgeting, lack of favorable weather conditions, inefficient machinery, and the availability of extravagance. The study is focused on the pace of mega projects that can have a significant change in the cost overrun calculation.15 mega projects are identified to study the problem of the cost overrun in the site. The contractor, consultant, and client are the principal stakeholders in the mega projects. 20 people from each sector were selected to participate in the investigation of the current mega construction project. The main objective of the study on the construction cost overrun is to prioritize the major causes of the cost overrun problem. The methodology that was employed in the construction cost overrun is the qualitative methodology that mostly rates the causes of construction project cost overrun. Interviews, open-ended and closed-ended questions group discussions, and rating qualitative methods are the best methodologies to study construction projects overrun. The result shows that design mistakes, lack of labor, payment delay, old equipment and scheduling, weather conditions, lack of skilled labor, payment delays, transportation, inflation, and order variations, market price fluctuation, and people's thoughts and philosophies, the prior cause of the cost overrun that fail the project performance. The institute shall follow the scheduled activities to bring a positive forward in the project life.

Keywords: cost overrun, delay, mega projects, design

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Authors: Dalia G. Aseel

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The potato (Solanum tubersum, L.) has become one of the major vegetable crops in Egypt and all over the world. Potato leafroll virus(PLRV) was observed on potato plants collected from different governorates in Egypt. Three cultivars, Spunta, Diamont, and Cara, infected with PLRV were collected; RNA was extracted and subjected to Real-Time PCR using the coat protein gene primers. The results showed that the expression of the coat protein was 39.6-fold, 12.45-fold, and 47.43-fold, respectively, for Spunta, Diamont, and Cara cultivars. Differential Display Polymerase Chain Reaction (DD-PCR) using pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR-1), β-1,3-glucanases (PR-2), chitinase (PR-3), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) forward primers for pathogenesis-related proteins (PR). The obtained data revealed different banding patterns depending on the viral type and the region of infection. Regarding PLRV, 58 up-regulated and 19 down-regulated genes were detected. Sequence analysis of the up-and down-regulated genes revealed that infected plants were observed in comparison with the healthy control. Sequence analysis of the up-regulated gene was performed, and the encoding sequence analysis showed that the obtained genes include: induced stolen tip protein. On the other hand, two down-regulated genes were identified: disease resistance RPP-like protein and non-specific lipid-transfer protein. In this study, the expressions of PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, POD, and PPO genes in the infected leaves of three potato cultivars were estimated by quantitative real-time PCR. We can conclude that the PLRV-infection of potato plants inhibited the expression of the five PR genes. On the contrary, infected leaves by PLRV elevated the expression of some defense genes. This interaction may also induce and/or suppress the expression of some genes responsible for the plant's defense mechanisms.

Keywords: PLRV, pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), DD-PCR, sequence, real-time PCR

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Authors: Maaike Maria Augustina Hommes

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This paper reviews the emergence of the recently approved lust enhancing pill for women (sold under the brand name of Addyi) and its status as ‘medicine’ from a cultural studies perspective to understand the way in which the usage of the pill can be seen as a medicalization of sexual desire. It asks where this medicalization can be localized to understand the current placement of and notions on female sexuality. Via a close reading of a woman’s narration of her usage of the pill that appeared in Shape Magazine, this paper critically reviews the pill’s relation to the concept of ‘cure’ and assesses the way this Pink Pill functions as a cure to the DSM-IV based disorder called Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. As such it finds that in the diagnosis with HSDD meant a huge relief. Now this woman was not just ‘bad at life and bad at marriage’ but ‘just had this health issue’. In order to get to an understanding of the different structures that conjoin in this expression of relief this paper reviews the emergence of the sexual desire disorder within psychology and the way that the loss of desire becomes localized in the brain. This localization will be related to two ways of looking at the human body; the medical gaze as described by Michel Foucault, and the neuromolecular gaze, as introduced by Nikolas Rose and Joelle M.Abi-Rached. Both these penetrating gazes bring about a certain reductionism in which the human body is either viewed as an objectified ‘sick body’ or as a set of chemical reactions. By referring to these modes of looking as reductionist one assumes that something is lost, or forgotten in the act of reducing. It is both what is gained in the formulation of the disorder, as what is lost in reduction of the disorder in medical knowledge that is at the central inquiry of this paper. As such, this paper brings forward the way in which medicine and cultural narrative are deeply intertwined. It is this way in which different forces of subject formation come together that is addressed via an interdisciplinary and object-centered focus on the pink pill.

Keywords: disorder and cure, female sexual desire, medical gaze, neuromolecular gaze

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Authors: Marcin Jakiel, Maria Kurek, Karolina Gutkowska, Sylwia Sanakiewicz, Dominika Stolarczyk, Jakub Batko, Rafał Jakiel, Mateusz K. Hołda

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The geometry of RVOT is extremely complicated. It is an irregular block with an ellipsoidal cross-section, whose dimensions decrease toward the pulmonary valve and measure 33.82 (IQR 30,51-39,36), 28.82 (IQR 26,11-32,22), 27.95 ± 4,11 for width [mm] and 33.41 ± 6,14, 26.99 ± 4,41, 26.91 ± 4,00 [mm] for depth, in the basal, middle and subpulmonary parts, respectively. In a sagittal section view, the RVOT heads upward and slightly backward. Its anterior perimeter has an average length of 41.96 mm and inclines to the transverse plane at an angle of 50.77° (IQR 46,53°-58,70°). In the posterior region, the RVOT is shorter (18.17mm) and flexes anteriorly. Therefore, the slope of the upper part of the rear wall to the transverse plane is an acute angle (open toward the rear) of 44,58° (IQR 37,30°-51,25°), while in the lower part it is an angle close to a right angle of 94,30°±15,44°. In addition, the thickness of the RVOT wall in the diastolic phase, at the posterior perimeter at the base, in the middle of the length and subpulmonary measure 3,80 mm ± 0,88 mm, 3,56 mm ± 0,73 mm, 3,56 mm ± 0,65 mm, respectively. In frontal cross-section, the RVOT rises on the interventricular septum, which makes it possible to distinguish the septal and supraseptal parts on its left periphery. The angles (facing the vertices to the right) of the inclination of these parts to the transverse plane are 75.5° (IQR 66,44°-81,11°) and 107.01° (IQR 99,09 – 115,23°), respectively, which allows us to conclude that the direction of the RVOT long axis changes from left to right. The above analysis shows that there is no single RVOT axis. Two axes can be distinguished, the one for the upper RVOT being more backward and leftward. The aforementioned forward deflection of the posterior wall and the RVOT's elevation over the interventricular septum, suggest that access to the subpulmonary region may be difficult. It should be emphasized that this area is often the target for ablation of ventricular arrhythmias. The small thickness of the RVOT posterior wall, with its difficult geometry, may favor its perforation into the pericardium or ascending aorta.

Keywords: angle, geometry, operation access, position, RVOT, shape

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Authors: Arash Gharibi

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Mankind has always used models to solve problems. Essentially, models are simplified versions of reality, whose need stems from having to deal with complexity; many processes or phenomena are too complex to be described completely. Thus a fundamental model requirement is that it contains the characteristic features that are essential in the context of the problem to be solved or described. Models are used in virtually every scientific domain to deal with various problems. During the recent decades, the number of models has increased exponentially. Publication of models as part of original research has traditionally been in in scientific periodicals, series, monographs, agency reports, national journals and laboratory reports. This makes it difficult for interested groups and communities to stay informed about the state-of-the-art. During the modeling process, many important decisions are made which impact the final form of the model. Without a record of these considerations, the final model remains ill-defined and open to varying interpretations. Unfortunately, the details of these considerations are often lost or in case there is any existing information about a model, it is likely to be written intuitively in different layouts and in different degrees of detail. In order to overcome these issues, different domains have attempted to implement their own approaches to preserve their models’ information in forms of model documentation. The most frequently cited model documentation approaches show that they are domain specific, not to applicable to the existing models and evolutionary flexibility and intrinsic corrections and improvements are not possible with the current approaches. These issues are all because of a lack of unified standards for model documentation. As a way forward, this research will propose a new standard for capturing and managing models’ information in a unified way so that interoperability and reusability of models become possible. This standard will also be evolutionary, meaning members of modeling realm could contribute to its ongoing developments and improvements. In this paper, the current 3 of the most common metamodels are reviewed and according to pros and cons of each, a new metamodel is proposed.

Keywords: metamodel, modeling, interoperability, reuse

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Authors: Aschalew Cherie Workneh, K. S. Hari Prasad, Chandra Shekhar Prasad Ojha

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Due to the increase in water scarcity, the crop water stress index (CWSI) is receiving significant attention these days, especially in arid and semiarid regions, for quantifying water stress and effective irrigation scheduling. Nowadays, machine learning techniques such as neural networks are being widely used to determine CWSI. In the present study, the performance of two artificial neural networks, namely, Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Feed Forward-Back Propagation Artificial Neural Networks (FF-BP-ANN), are compared while determining the CWSI of rice crop. Irrigation field experiments with varying degrees of irrigation were conducted at the irrigation field laboratory of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, during the growing season of the rice crop. The CWSI of rice was computed empirically by measuring key meteorological variables (relative humidity, air temperature, wind speed, and canopy temperature) and crop parameters (crop height and root depth). The empirically computed CWSI was compared with SOM and FF-BP-ANN predicted CWSI. The upper and lower CWSI baselines are computed using multiple regression analysis. The regression analysis showed that the lower CWSI baseline for rice is a function of crop height (h), air vapor pressure deficit (AVPD), and wind speed (u), whereas the upper CWSI baseline is a function of crop height (h) and wind speed (u). The performance of SOM and FF-BP-ANN were compared by computing Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), index of agreement (d), root mean squared error (RMSE), and coefficient of correlation (R²). It is found that FF-BP-ANN performs better than SOM while predicting the CWSI of rice crops.

Keywords: artificial neural networks; crop water stress index; canopy temperature, prediction capability

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Authors: Xiaoting Jing, Ling Huang

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After the reform and opening up, Chongqing has formed far more high-rise residential areas than other cities in its more than 40 years of urban construction. High-rise residential areas have become one of the main modern living models in Chongqing and an important carrier reflecting the city's high quality of life. Reviewing the construction process and renewal work helps understand the characteristics of high-rise residential areas in Chongqing at different stages, clarify current development demands, and look forward to the focus of future renewal work. Based on socio-economic development and policy background, the article sorts the construction process of high-rise residential areas in Chongqing into four stages: the early experimental construction period of high-rise residential areas (1978-1996), the rapid start-up period of high-rise commodity housing construction (1997-2006), the large-scale construction period of high-rise commodity housing and public rental housing (2007-2014), and the period of renewal and renovation of high-rise residential areas and step-by-step construction of quality commodity housing (2015-present). Based on the construction demands and main construction types of each stage, the article summarizes that the construction of high-rise residential areas in Chongqing features large scale, high speed, and high density. It points out that a large number of high-rise residential areas built after 2000 will become important objects of renewal and renovation in the future. Based on existing renewal work experience, it is urgent to explore a path for sustainable renewal and development in terms of policy mechanisms, digital supervision, and renewal and renovation models, leading the high-rise living in Chongqing toward high-quality development.

Keywords: high-rise residential areas, construction process, renewal and renovation, Chongqing

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Authors: Abolfazl Zaraki, Yoshikatsu Hayashi, Harry Thorpe, Vincent Strong, Gisle-Andre Larsen, William Holderbaum

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Thanks to the high maneuverability of the cable-driven hyper-redundant manipulators (HRMs), this class of robots has shown a superior capability in highly confined and unstructured space applications. Although the large number of degrees of freedom (DOF) of HRMs enhances the motion flexibility and the robot’s reachability range, it highly increases the complexity of the kinematic configuration which makes the kinematic control problem very challenging or even impossible to solve. This paper presents our current progress achieved on the development of a kinematic-based leader-follower control system which is designed to control not only the robot’s body posture but also to control the trajectory of the robot’s movement in a semi-autonomous manner (the human operator is retained in the robot’s control loop). To obtain the forward kinematic model, the coordinate frames are established by the classical Denavit–Hartenburg (D-H) convention for a hyper-redundant serial manipulator which has a controlled cables-driven mechanism. To solve the inverse kinematics of the robot, unlike the conventional methods, a leader-follower mechanism, based on the sequential inverse kinematic, is followed. Using this mechanism, the inverse kinematic problem is solved for all sequential joints starting from the head joint to the base joint of the robot. To verify the kinematic design and simulate the robot motion, the MATLAB robotic toolbox is used. The simulation result demonstrated the promising capability of the proposed leader-follower control system in controlling the robot motion and trajectory in our confined space application.

Keywords: hyper-redundant robots, kinematic analysis, semi-autonomous control, serial manipulators

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Authors: Parsa Keyvani, Alistair Phillips, David Warwick

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Background: The current process for gaining patient consent for hand and wrist surgery at University Hospital Southampton (UHS) is paper-based and makes use of generic forms provided by the NHS and no patient information leaflet is available relating to hand and wrist surgery. Aims: To evaluate the process of obtaining clinical consent and suggest ways in which the service can be improved. Methods: A log-book review of four orthopaedic surgeons at UHS was carried out over a three-month period in order to identify the 10 most common types of elective hand and wrist surgeries performed. A literature review was carried out to identify the complications of these surgeries. The surgeries were then divided into 6 types: nerve, bone, ligament, joint, tendon and dupuytren’s surgery. A digitised consent form was created covering the complications of all 6 surgery types. Finally, the surgeons at the orthopaedic department of UHS were asked whether they prefer the old paper-based or the digitised consent form. Results: All of the surgeons felt that the procedure type-based form was easier to read, use and understand. Conclusion: This research highlights a number of problems related to the use of current NHS consent forms. The proposed solution is to use a set of digitised, procedure type-based consent forms. Digital consent forms can be filled in in advance and sent to the patient electronically along with any relevant information leaflets, thus giving them time to absorb the information and come up with any questions before they have their pre-procedure discussion with their doctor. This would allow the doctor to focus the consultation on the patient rather than writing out the consent form and would ultimately be a step forward in making the NHS a global digital leader and fully embrace the opportunity offered by technology.

Keywords: digitised consent form, elective surgery, hand surgery complications, informed consent, procedure type-based consent form

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Authors: Nosratollah Hedayatpour, Hamid Reza Taheri, Mehrdad Fathi

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Introduction: Quadriceps femoris muscle is frequently involved in various movements e.g., jumping, landing) during sport and/or daily activities. During ballistic movement when individuals are faced with unexpected knee perturbation, fast twitch muscle fibers contribute to force production to stabilize knee joint. Fast twitch muscle fiber is more susceptible to fatigue and therefor may reduce the ability of the quadriceps muscle to stabilize knee joint during fast perturbation. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fatigue on postural response of the knee extensor muscles to fast and slow perturbations. Methods: Fatigue was induced to the quadriceps muscle using a KinCom Isokinetic Dynamometer (Chattanooga, TN). Bipolar surface electromyography (EMG) signals were simultaneously recorded from quadriceps components (vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus lateralis) during pre- and post-fatigue postural perturbation performed at two different velocities of 120 ms and 250 mes. Results: One-way ANOVA showed that maximal voluntary knee extension force and time to task failure, and associated EMG activities were significantly reduced after fatiguing knee exercise (P< 0.05). Two-ways ANOVA also showed that ARV of EMG during backward direction was significantly larger than forward direction (P< 0.05), and during fast-perturbation it was significantly higher than slow-perturbation (P< 0.05). Moreover, ARV of EMG was significantly reduced during post fatigue perturbation, with the largest reduction identified for fast-perturbation compared with slow perturbation (P< 0.05). Conclusion: A larger reduction in muscle activity of the quadriceps muscle was observed during post fatigue fast-perturbation to stabilize knee joint, most likely due to preferential recruitment of fast twitch muscle fiber which are more susceptible to fatigue. This may partly explain that why knee injuries is common after fast ballistic movement.

Keywords: electromyography, fast-slow perturbations, fatigue, quadriceps femoris muscle

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Authors: M. Shokry Rashwan

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This study follows a number of experiments conducted at Red River College (RRC) to investigate the short term properties of tire derived aggregate (TDA) produced from shredding off-the-road (OTR) wasted tires in a proposed new application. The application targets replacing natural material used under concrete slabs and as backfills for residential homes’ basement slabs and walls, respectively, with TDA. The experimental work included determining: compressibility, gradation distribution, unit weight, hydraulic conductivity and lateral pressure. Based on the results of those short term properties; it was decided to move forward to study the long-term performance of this otherwise waste material through on-site demonstration. A full-scale basement replicating a typical Manitoba home was therefore built at RRC where both TDA and Natural Materials (NM) were used side-by-side. A large number of sensing and measuring systems are used to compare between the performances of each material when exposed to the typical ground and weather conditions. Parameters monitored and measured include heat losses, moisture migration, drainage ability, lateral pressure, relative movements of slabs and walls, an integrity of ground water and radon emissions. Up-to-date results have confirmed part of the conclusions reached from the earlier laboratory experiments. However, other results have shown that construction practices; such as placing and compaction, may need some adjustments to achieve more desirable outcomes. This presentation provides a review of both short-term tests as well as up-to-date analysis of the on-site demonstration.

Keywords: tire derived aggregate (TDA), basement construction, TDA material properties, lateral pressure of TDA, hydraulic conductivity of TDA

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Authors: Mualla McManus, Jenna Luche Thaye

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World Health Organisation International Classification of Disease codes were created to define disease including infections in order to guide and educate diagnosticians. Most infectious diseases such as syphilis are clearly defined by their ICD 10 codes and aid/help to educate the clinicians in syphilis diagnosis and treatment globally. However, current ICD 10 codes for relapsing fever Borreliosis and Lyme disease are less clearly defined and can impede appropriate diagnosis especially if the clinician is not familiar with the symptoms of these infectious diseases. This is despite substantial number of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals about relapsing fever and Lyme disease. In the USA there are estimated 380,000 people annually contacting Lyme disease, more cases than breast cancer and 6x HIV/AIDS cases. This represents estimated 0.09% of the USA population. If extrapolated to the global population (7billion), 0.09% equates to 63 million people contracting relapsing fever or Lyme disease. In many regions, the rate of contracting some form of infection from tick bite may be even higher. Without accurate and appropriate diagnostic codes, physicians are impeded in their ability to properly care for their patients, leaving those patients invisible and marginalized within the medical system and to those guiding public policy. This results in great personal hardship, pain, disability, and expense. This unnecessarily burdens health care systems, governments, families, and society as a whole. With accurate diagnostic codes in place, robust data can guide medical and public health research, health policy, track mortality and save health care dollars. Better defined ICD codes are the way forward in educating the diagnosticians about relapsing fever and Lyme diseases.

Keywords: WHO ICD codes, relapsing fever, Lyme diseases, World Health Organisation

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Authors: Pintip Vajarothai, Saad Al-Jibouri, Johannes I. M. Halman

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Public investment projects are primarily aimed at achieving development strategies to increase national economies of scale and overall improvement in a country. However, experience shows that public projects, particularly in developing countries, struggle or fail to fulfill the immediate needs of local communities. In many cases, the reason for that is that projects are selected in a subjective manner and that a major part of the problem is related to the evaluation criteria and techniques used. The evaluation process is often based on a broad strategic economic effects rather than real benefits of projects to society or on the various needs from different levels (e.g. national, regional, local) and conditions (e.g. long-term and short-term requirements). In this paper, an extensive literature review of the types of criteria used in the past by various researchers in project evaluation and selection process is carried out and the effectiveness of such criteria and techniques is discussed. The paper proposes substitute social and project sustainability criteria to improve the conditions of local people and in particular the disadvantaged groups of the communities. Furthermore, it puts forward a way for modelling the interaction between the selected criteria and the achievement of the social goals of the affected community groups. The described work is part of developing a broader decision model for public investment project selection by integrating various aspects and techniques into a practical methodology. The paper uses Thailand as a case to review what and how the various evaluation techniques are currently used and how to improve the project evaluation and selection process related to social and sustainability issues in the country. The paper also uses an example to demonstrates how to test the feasibility of various criteria and how to model the interaction between projects and communities. The proposed model could be applied to other developing and developed countries in the project evaluation and selection process to improve its effectiveness in the long run.

Keywords: evaluation criteria, developing countries, public investment, project selection methodology

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Authors: Amandeep Kaur

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All religions enlighten truth which provides spiritual tranquility. But, the language of these holy books is not easy to understand because these have divine language. That's why hermeneutical Study is necessary to understand these Scriptures. There is a separate theoretical framework to study all the disciplines of language, literature, religion etc. Similarly the discipline of interpretation has its own theoretical framework known as hermeneutics. It is a science of interpretation that put forward the best ways and methods of interpretation. But in this modern world, hermeneutics is considered as a theoretical-cum-philosophical discipline. It is vast study of understanding texts. Hermeneutics is especially related to the study of religious scriptures like the Bible, the Qur'an, the Vedas and the Shri Guru Granth Sahib and many more. It is mainly the Western concept which has a great old tradition because it used the Bible as the foremost holy scripture for definition and interpretation. The Discipline of the Indian hermeneutics was led by Mimamsa School. The reference of the word hermeneutics in works of Ancient Greek philosophers indicates towards the antiquity of this word. Shri Guru Granth Sahib's schools of interpretation like Udasi, Nirmala, Sevapanthi and Gyani came into existence to interpret the discourse of Shri Guru Granth Sahib. These are sects of Sikhism and have great contribution to interpret and preach Guru Granth Sahib's revelation. This research paper will represent the comparative study of these sects methods, tools and styles of interpreting the meaning of this holy book. Interpretation is basically textual based process. So, all these schools have chosen Guru Granth Sahib for textual study. Some of the schools have done a whole interpretation of Guru Granth Sahib. But, some of them have done only interpretation of prominent banies i.e Japuji Sahib, Anand Sahib, Assa-di-war etc. This study will also throw lights on sect's historical background and contribution. At last conclusion of this paper is that all the schools have done gurbani interpretation according to their own philosophical and theological point of view. These schools have many similarities and differences among their way of interpretation. It will be discussed briefly.

Keywords: Gyani, hermeneutics, Mimamsa, Nirmala, Sevapanthi, Udasi

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Authors: Hanna Salminen

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Due to the large societal changes in working life, such as retirement reforms, globalization and technological changes, careers are becoming longer, more varied and unpredictable than before. Similar to other new career concepts, such as protean and boundaryless career, a sustainable career concept emphasizes an individual’s active role and agency in managing his/her own career in changing working life. However, the sustainable career concept also underlines the importance of safeguarding and developing human capital over time and thereby fostering continuity. Especially, the theoretical discussion around sustainable careers stresses flexible career choices that meet an individual’s own personal needs, allow work-family balance and promotes continuous learning. Although sustainable careers concern employees at all ages, this study focuses on older employees (aged 50+). So far, the changing nature of careers has been mainly investigated among younger generations, and the changing and prolonging late career phase has received less attention among career scholars. In other words, there is lack of knowledge regarding what constitutes a sustainable career in the late career phase and how the individual, organizational, and societal levels of sustainable career ecosystem are interconnected. The theoretical discussion around sustainable careers is closely linked to the sustainable management of human resources in organizations. In the field of human resource management (HRM), sustainable HRM has received more attention in recent years and it has been seen as a step forward from strategic HRM approach. As a concept, sustainable HRM stresses the long-term focus on organizations’ social, economic, and ecological resources, and the benefits of HRM practices for employees, organizations, and the society at large. However, some HRM scholars argue that the ecological and financial matters have overshadowed the social aspect of sustainability. In this study, the sustainable career and sustainable HRM literature are combined. As a result of an integrative literature review, this study provides new insight, how sustainable late career phase has been understood and conceptualized in sustainable career and sustainable HRM literature.

Keywords: sustainability, career, human resource management, ageing

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Authors: Jacob Seddlemeyer, Tahar Messadi, Hongmei Gu, Mahboobeh Hemmati

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The main purpose of this first tier of the study is to quantify and compare the embodied environmental impacts associated with alternative materials applied to Adohi Hall, a residence building at the University of Arkansas campus, Fayetteville, AR. This 200,000square foot building has5 stories builtwith mass timber and is compared to another scenario where the same edifice is built with a steel frame. Based on the defined goal and scope of the project, the materials respectivetothe respective to the two building options are compared in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP), starting from cradle to the construction site, which includes the material manufacturing stage (raw material extract, process, supply, transport, and manufacture) plus transportation to the site (module A1-A4, based on standard EN 15804 definition). The consumedfossil fuels and emitted CO2 associated with the buildings are the major reason for the environmental impacts of climate change. In this study, GWP is primarily assessed to the exclusion of other environmental factors. The second tier of this work is to evaluate Tally’s performance in the decision-making process through the design phases, as well as determine its strengths and weaknesses. Tally is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool capable of conducting a cradle-to-grave analysis. As opposed to other software applications, Tally is specifically targeted at buildings LCA. As a peripheral application, this software tool is directly run within the core modeling application platform called Revit. This unique functionality causes Tally to stand out from other similar tools in the building sector LCA analysis. The results of this study also provide insights for making more environmentally efficient decisions in the building environment and help in the move forward to reduce Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions and GWP mitigation.

Keywords: comparison, GWP, LCA, materials, tally

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Authors: Yue Wang, Fan Chen

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After the economic reform in 1978, the urbanization in China has grown fast. It urged cities to expand in an unprecedented high speed. Villages around were annexed unprepared, and it turned out to be a new type of community called 'village in city.' Two things happened here. First, the locals gave up farming and turned to secondary industry and tertiary industry, as a result of losing their land. Secondly, attracted by the high income in cities and low rent here, plenty of migrants came into the community. This area is important to a city in rapid growth for providing a transitional zone. But thanks to its passivity and low development, 'village in city' has caused lots of trouble to the city. Densities of population and construction are both high, while facilities are severely inadequate. Unplanned and illegal structures are built, which creates a complex mixed-function area and leads to a bad residential area. Besides, the locals have a strong property right consciousness for the land. It holds back the transformation and development of the community. Although the land capitalization can bring significant benefits, it’s inappropriate to make a great financial compensation to the locals, and considering the large population of city migrants, it’s important to explore the relationship among the 'village in city,' city immigrants and the city itself. Taking the example of Hangzhou, this paper analyzed the developing process, functions spatial distribution, industrial structure and current traffic system of 'village in city.' Above the research on the community, this paper put forward a common method to make urban planning through the following ways: adding city functions, building civil facilities, re-planning functions spatial distribution, changing the constitution of local industry and planning new traffic system. Under this plan, 'village in city' finally can be absorbed into cities and make its own contribution to the urbanization.

Keywords: China, city immigrant, urbanization, village in city

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Authors: Kofi Nkonkonya Mpuangnan, Samantha Govender, Hlengiwe Romualda Mhlongo

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Educational leaders are skilled architects crafting a vibrant environment where growth, creativity, and adaptability can flourish within schools. Their journey is one of transformation, urging them to explore administrative strategies that align seamlessly with evolving educational models and cater to the specific needs of students, educators, and stakeholders. Through this committed effort to innovate, they seek to enhance the effectiveness and influence of educational systems, paving the way for a more inclusive and forward-thinking educational environment. In this context, the authors explored the concept of transforming educational leadership with administrative strategies in alignment with the following research objectives. To find the strategies that can be adopted by transformation leaders to promote effective administrative practices in an educational setting and to explore the roles of educational leaders in promoting collaboration in education. To find answers to these questions, a systematic literature review underpinned by the transformational leadership model was adopted. Therefore, concepts integrated from a variety of outlets, including academic journals, conference proceedings, and reports found within SCOPUS, WoS, and IBSS databases. A search was aided using specific themes like innovative administrative practices, the roles of educational leaders, and interdisciplinary approaches to administrative practices. The process of conducting the search adhered to the five-step framework, which was subjected to inclusion and exclusion of studies. It was found that transformational leadership, agile methodologies, employee wellbeing, seminars and workshops could foster a culture of innovation and creativity among teachers and staff to transform administrative practices in education settings. It was recommended that professional development programs be organized periodically for educational leaders in educational institutions to help them revitalize their knowledge and skills in educational administration.

Keywords: educational leadership, innovative strategies, administrative practices, professional development, stakeholder engaement, student outcome

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Authors: Ruhollah Basatnia, Ali Reza Aghababa, Mehrdad Anbarian, Sara Akbari, Mohammad Khazaee

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Introduction: The investigation of brain activity in sports has become a subject of interest for researchers. Several studies have examined the patterns or differences in brain activity during different sports situations. Previous studies have suggested that the pattern of cortical activity may differ between different football positions, such as goalkeepers and other players. This study aims to investigate the differences in electroencephalographic (EEG) activity between the positions of goalkeeper and forward in professional football players. Methods: Fourteen goalkeepers and twelve forwards, all males between 19-28 years old, participated in the study. EEG activity was recorded while participants were sitting with their eyes closed for 5 minutes. The mean relative power of EEG activity for each frequency band was compared between the two groups using independent samples t-test. Findings: The study found significant differences in the relative power of EEG activity between different frequency bands and electrodes. Notably, significant differences were observed in the mean relative power of EEG activity between the two groups for certain frequency bands and electrodes. These findings suggest that EEG activity can serve as a sensory indicator for cognitive and performance differences between goalkeepers and forwards in football players. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that EEG activity can be used to identify cognitive and performance differences between goalkeepers and forwards in football players. However, further research is needed to establish the relationship between EEG activity and actual performance in the field. Future studies should investigate the potential influence of other factors, such as fatigue and stress, on the EEG activity of football players. Additionally, the use of real-time EEG feedback could be explored as a tool for training and performance optimization in football players. Further research is required to fully understand the potential of EEG activity as a sensory indicator for cognitive and performance differences between football player positions and to explore its potential applications for training and performance optimization in football and other sports.

Keywords: football, brain activity, EEG, goalkeepers, forwards

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Authors: Ozgu Hafizoglu

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An analogy is an essential tool of human cognition that enables connecting diffuse and diverse systems with physical, behavioral, principal relations that are essential to learning, discovery, and innovation. The Cognitive Model of Analogy (CMA) leads and creates patterns of pathways to transfer information within and between domains in science, just as happens in the brain. The connectome of the brain shows how the brain operates with mental leaps between domains and mental hops within domains and the way how analogical reasoning mechanism operates. This paper demonstrates the CMA as an evolutionary approach to science, technology, and life. The model puts forward the challenges of deep uncertainty about the future, emphasizing the need for flexibility of the system in order to enable reasoning methodology to adapt to changing conditions in the new era, especially post-pandemic. In this paper, we will reveal how to draw an analogy to scientific research to discover new systems that reveal the fractal schema of analogical reasoning within and between the systems like within and between the brain regions. Distinct phases of the problem-solving processes are divided thusly: stimulus, encoding, mapping, inference, and response. Based on the brain research so far, the system is revealed to be relevant to brain activation considering each of these phases with an emphasis on achieving a better visualization of the brain’s mechanism in macro context; brain and spinal cord, and micro context: glia and neurons, relative to matching conditions of analogical reasoning and relational information, encoding, mapping, inference and response processes, and verification of perceptual responses in four-term analogical reasoning. Finally, we will relate all these terminologies with these mental leaps, mental maps, mental hops, and mental loops to make the mental model of CMA clear.

Keywords: analogy, analogical reasoning, brain connectome, cognitive model, neurons and glia, mental leaps, mental hops, mental loops

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Authors: Stanley Fore, Sharon Chipeperekwa

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The start of the 2011 academic year in South Africa saw a number of Institutions of Higher Learning introducing online registration for their students. The efficiency and effectiveness of Information Systems are increasingly becoming a necessity and not an option for many organizations. An information system should be able to allow end users to access information easily and navigate with ease. The selected University of Technology (UoT) in this research is one of the largest public institution of higher learning in the Western Cape Province and boasts of an enrolment of more than 30000 students per academic year. An observation was made that, during registration students’ stand in long queues waiting to register or for assistance to register. The system tends to ‘freeze’ whilst students are registering and students are in most cases unfamiliar with the system interface. They constantly have to enquire what to do next when going through online registration process. A mixed method approach will be adopted which comprises of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study uses constructs of the updated DeLone and McLean IS success model (2003) to analyse and explain the student’s perceptions of the online registration system. The research was undertaken to establish the student’s perceptions of the online registration system. This research seeks to identify and analyse the challenges and success factors of introducing an online registration system whilst highlighting the extent to which this system has been able to solve the numerous problems associated with the manual era. The study will assist management and those responsible for managing the current system to determine how well the system is working or not working to achieve user satisfaction. It will also assist them going forward on what to consider before, during and after implementation of an information system. Respondents will be informed of the objectives of the research, and their consent to participate will be sought. Ethical considerations that will be applied to this study include; informed consent and protection from harm, right to privacy and involvement of the research.

Keywords: online registration, information systems, University of Technology, end-users

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Authors: Akhila Potluru

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Worldwide, more than 250 bodies of water are transboundary, meaning they cross the political boundaries of multiple countries. This creates a system of hydrological, economic, and social interdependence between communities reliant on these water sources. Transboundary water conflicts can occur as a result of this intense interdependence. Many factors contribute to the sparking of transboundary water conflicts, ranging from natural hydrological factors to hydro-political interactions. Previous attempts to predict transboundary water conflicts by analysing changes or trends in the contributing factors have typically failed because patterns in the data are hard to identify. However, there is potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning to fill this gap and identify future ‘hotspots’ up to a year in advance by identifying patterns in data where humans can’t. This research determines the extent to which AI can be used to predict and prevent transboundary water conflicts. This is done via a critical literature review of previous case studies and datasets where AI was deployed to predict water conflict. This research not only delivered a more nuanced understanding of previously undervalued factors that contribute toward transboundary water conflicts (in particular, culture and disinformation) but also by detecting conflict early, governance bodies can engage in processes to de-escalate conflict by providing pre-emptive solutions. Looking forward, this gives rise to significant policy implications and water-sharing agreements, which may be able to prevent water conflicts from developing into wide-scale disasters. Additionally, AI can be used to gain a fuller picture of water-based conflicts in areas where security concerns mean it is not possible to have staff on the ground. Therefore, AI enhances not only the depth of our knowledge about transboundary water conflicts but also the breadth of our knowledge. With demand for water constantly growing, competition between countries over shared water will increasingly lead to water conflict. There has never been a more significant time for us to be able to accurately predict and take precautions to prevent global water conflicts.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, transboundary water conflict, water management

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Authors: Salimah Hasnah, Namratha Radhakrishnan

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Communities play a vital role in mobilizing people and resources for the benefit of all. Since time immemorial, communities have been spear heading different activities ranging from disaster management, palliative care, local economic development and many more with laudable success. Urban agriculture is one such activity where communities can prove to make a real difference. Farming activities in cities across different developed countries have proved to have favorable outcomes in the form of increased food security, neighborhood revitalization, health benefits and local economic growth. However, urban agriculture in the developing nations have never been prioritized as an important planning tool to cater to the basic needs of the public. Urban agricultural practices are being carried out in a fragmented fashion without a formal backing. The urban dwellers rely heavily on their far-off rural counterparts for daily food requirements. With the onset of the pandemic and the recurring lockdowns, the significance of geographic proximity and its impact on the availability of food to the public are gradually being realized around the globe. This warrants a need for localized food systems by shortening the distance between production and consumption of food. The significance of communities in realizing these urban farming benefits is explored in this paper. A case-study approach is adopted to understand how different communities have overcome barriers to urban farming in cities. The applicability of these practices is validated against the state of Kerala in India wherein different community centered approaches have been successful in the past. The existing barriers are assessed and way forward to achieve a self-sufficient localized food systems is formulated with the key lessons from the case studies. These recommendations will be helpful to successfully establish and sustain farming activities in urban areas by leveraging the power of communities.

Keywords: community-centric, COVID-19, drivers and barriers, local food system, urban agriculture

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Authors: Budi Purnomo, Karen M. Fernandez

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The creation of an ASEAN Community in 2015 is definitely one thing to look forward to. Integration may have birth pains in the beginning but at the end of the day, there are many opportunities that each member-state can take advantage that will benefit the people of ASEAN. Once fully integrated in 2015, ASEAN-certified tourism professionals who pass the common competency standards may find employment in various divisions of labor that are common across various sectors of tourism in member countries. At present, there are six labor divisions where tourism professionals may find employment in ASEAN member countries: namely Front Office; Housekeeping; Food Production; Food and Beverage Services (for Hotel Services); Travel Agency; and Tour Operations (for Travel Services Division). The study attempts to assess the readiness of Indonesian and Filipino students prospective skilled and educated tourism labors to work in ASEAN member countries by 2015. The data sources are obtained from a researcher-designed questionnaire and in-depth interview to reveal the interest of Indonesian and Filipino students to work in other ASEAN member states. The questionnaires were distributed to 240 third and fourth year students who are currently enrolled at the leading tourism institutes/universities in Indonesia and Philippines. The findings of the study will reveal the fulfillment of the requirements to work in ASEAN member-states, the comparison of existing tourism management curricula of Indonesia and Philippines to the Common ASEAN Curriculum (CATC) and Regional Qualifications Framework and Skills Recognition System (RQFSRS) which supports the policies of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia and the Department of Tourism and Department of Labor and Employment of the Republic of the Philippines.

Keywords: ASEAN economic community, prospective skilled and educated tourism labors, tourism labor movement, ASEAN certified-tourism professionals

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Authors: Nishantha Giguruwa

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This research investigates the transformative potential of smart container farming, building upon the successful cultivation of Japanese mushrooms at Sakai Farms in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, under the strategic collaboration with the Daikei Group. Inspired by this success, the study focuses on establishing an advanced urban strawberry farming laboratory with the aim of understanding strawberry farming technologies, fostering collaboration, and strategizing marketing approaches for both local and global markets. Positioned within the business framework of Sakai Farms and the Daikei Group, the study underscores the sustainability and forward-looking solutions offered by smart container farming in agriculture. The global significance of strawberries is emphasized, acknowledging their economic and cultural importance. The detailed examination of strawberry farming intricacies informs the technological framework developed for smart containers, implemented at Sakai Farms. Integral to this research is the incorporation of controlled bee pollination, a groundbreaking addition to the smart container farming model. The study anticipates future trends, outlining avenues for continuing exploration, stakeholder collaborations, policy considerations, and expansion strategies. Notably, the author expresses a strategic intent to approach the global market, leveraging the foreign student/faculty base at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, where the author is affiliated. This unique approach aims to disseminate the research findings globally, contributing to the broader landscape of agricultural innovation. The integration of controlled bee pollination within this innovative framework not only enhances sustainability but also marks a significant stride in the evolution of urban agriculture, aligning with global agricultural trends.

Keywords: smart container farming, urban agriculture, strawberry farming technologies, controlled bee pollination, agricultural innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 35

Authors: Rakelane A. Mendes, Sandro T. M. Goncalves, Raphaella L. R. Silva

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The concepts of energy harvesting and wireless energy transfer have been widely discussed in recent times. There are some ways to create autonomous systems for collecting ambient energy, such as solar, vibratory, thermal, electromagnetic, radiofrequency (RF), among others. In the case of the RF it is possible to collect up to 100 μW / cm². To collect and/or transfer energy in RF systems, a device called rectenna is used, which is defined by the junction of an antenna and a rectifier circuit. The rectenna presented in this work is resonant at the frequencies of 1.8 GHz and 2.45 GHz. Frequencies at 1.8 GHz band are e part of the GSM / LTE band. The GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) is a frequency band of mobile telephony, it is also called second generation mobile networks (2G), it came to standardize mobile telephony in the world and was originally developed for voice traffic. LTE (Long Term Evolution) or fourth generation (4G) has emerged to meet the demand for wireless access to services such as Internet access, online games, VoIP and video conferencing. The 2.45 GHz frequency is part of the ISM (Instrumentation, Scientific and Medical) frequency band, this band is internationally reserved for industrial, scientific and medical development with no need for licensing, and its only restrictions are related to maximum power transfer and bandwidth, which must be kept within certain limits (in Brazil the bandwidth is 2.4 - 2.4835 GHz). The rectenna presented in this work was designed to present efficiency above 50% for an input power of -15 dBm. It is known that for wireless energy capture systems the signal power is very low and varies greatly, for this reason this ultra-low input power was chosen. The Rectenna was built using the low cost FR4 (Flame Resistant) substrate, the antenna selected is a microfita antenna, consisting of a Meandered dipole, and this one was optimized using the software CST Studio. This antenna has high efficiency, high gain and high directivity. Gain is the quality of an antenna in capturing more or less efficiently the signals transmitted by another antenna and/or station. Directivity is the quality that an antenna has to better capture energy in a certain direction. The rectifier circuit used has series topology and was optimized using Keysight's ADS software. The rectifier circuit is the most complex part of the rectenna, since it includes the diode, which is a non-linear component. The chosen diode is the Schottky diode SMS 7630, this presents low barrier voltage (between 135-240 mV) and a wider band compared to other types of diodes, and these attributes make it perfect for this type of application. In the rectifier circuit are also used inductor and capacitor, these are part of the input and output filters of the rectifier circuit. The inductor has the function of decreasing the dispersion effect on the efficiency of the rectifier circuit. The capacitor has the function of eliminating the AC component of the rectifier circuit and making the signal undulating.

Keywords: dipole antenna, double-band, high efficiency, rectenna

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Authors: Armand Okende, Benjamin Beaumont

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Introduction: Deforestation is a change in the structure and composition of flora and fauna, which leads to a loss of biodiversity, production of goods and services and an increase in fires. It concerns vast territories in tropical zones particularly; this is the case of the territory of Bolobo in the current province of Maï- Ndombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Indeed, through this study between 2001 and 2018, we believe that it was important to show and analyze quantitatively the important forests changes and analyze quantitatively. It’s the overall objective of this study because, in this area, we are witnessing significant deforestation. Methodology: Mapping and quantification are the methodological approaches that we have put forward to assess the deforestation or forest changes through satellite images or raster layers. These satellites data from Global Forest Watch are integrated into the GIS software (GRASS GIS and Quantum GIS) to represent the loss of forest cover that has occurred and the various changes recorded (e.g., forest gain) in the territory of Bolobo. Results: The results obtained show, in terms of quantifying deforestation for the periods 2001-2006, 2007-2012 and 2013-2018, the loss of forest area in hectares each year. The different change maps produced during different study periods mentioned above show that the loss of forest areas is gradually increasing. Conclusion: With this study, knowledge of forest management and protection is a challenge to ensure good management of forest resources. To do this, it is wise to carry out more studies that would optimize the monitoring of forests to guarantee the ecological and economic functions they provide in the Congo Basin, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, the cartographic approach, coupled with the geographic information system and remote sensing proposed by Global Forest Watch using raster layers, provides interesting information to explain the loss of forest areas.

Keywords: deforestation, loss year, forest change, remote sensing, drivers of deforestation

Procedia PDF Downloads 115