Search results for: laboratory information system

Authors: Zhuoran Li, Guan Qin

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A robust and efficient compositional equilibrium characterization model for hydrate-containing systems is required, especially for time-critical simulations such as subsea pipeline flow assurance analysis, compositional simulation in hydrate reservoirs etc. A multiphase flash calculation framework, which combines Gibbs energy minimization function and cubic plus association (CPA) EoS, is developed to describe the highly non-ideal phase behavior of hydrate-containing systems. A non-iterative eigenvalue problem-solving approach for the trust-region sub-problem is selected to guarantee efficiency. The developed flash model is based on the state-of-the-art objective function proposed by Michelsen to minimize the Gibbs energy of the multiphase system. It is conceivable that a hydrate-containing system always contains polar components (such as water and hydrate inhibitors), introducing hydrogen bonds to influence phase behavior. Thus, the cubic plus associating (CPA) EoS is utilized to compute the thermodynamic parameters. The solid solution theory proposed by van der Waals and Platteeuw is applied to represent hydrate phase parameters. The trust-region method combined with the trust-region sub-problem non-iterative eigenvalue problem-solving approach is utilized to ensure fast convergence. The developed multiphase flash model's accuracy performance is validated by three available models (one published and two commercial models). Hundreds of published hydrate-containing system equilibrium experimental data are collected to act as the standard group for the accuracy test. The accuracy comparing results show that our model has superior performances over two models and comparable calculation accuracy to CSMGem. Efficiency performance test also has been carried out. Because the trust-region method can determine the optimization step's direction and size simultaneously, fast solution progress can be obtained. The comparison results show that less iteration number is needed to optimize the objective function by utilizing trust-region methods than applying line search methods. The non-iterative eigenvalue problem approach also performs faster computation speed than the conventional iterative solving algorithm for the trust-region sub-problem, further improving the calculation efficiency. A new thermodynamic framework of the multiphase flash model for the hydrate-containing system has been constructed in this work. Sensitive analysis and numerical experiments have been carried out to prove the accuracy and efficiency of this model. Furthermore, based on the current thermodynamic model in the oil and gas industry, implementing this model is simple.

Keywords: equation of state, hydrates, multiphase equilibrium, trust-region method

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Authors: Bruk Gebregziabher

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The safe and efficient operation of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in complex environments, such as manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture, necessitates accurate multiobject tracking and predictive collision avoidance. This paper presents algorithms and techniques for addressing these challenges using Lidar sensor data, emphasizing ensemble Kalman filter. The developed predictive collision avoidance algorithm employs the data provided by lidar sensors to track multiple objects and predict their velocities and future positions, enabling the AMR to navigate safely and effectively. A modification to the dynamic windowing approach is introduced to enhance the performance of the collision avoidance system. The overall system architecture encompasses object detection, multi-object tracking, and predictive collision avoidance control. The experimental results, obtained from both simulation and real-world data, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in various scenarios, which lays the foundation for future research on global planners, other controllers, and the integration of additional sensors. This thesis contributes to the ongoing development of safe and efficient autonomous systems in complex and dynamic environments.

Keywords: autonomous mobile robots, multi-object tracking, predictive collision avoidance, ensemble Kalman filter, lidar sensors

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Authors: O. M. Bamigbola, A. A. Ibrahim

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Analysis of real life problems often results in linear systems of equations for which solutions are sought. The method to employ depends, to some extent, on the properties of the coefficient matrix. It is not always feasible to solve linear systems of equations by direct methods, as such the need to use an iterative method becomes imperative. Before an iterative method can be employed to solve a linear system of equations there must be a guaranty that the process of solution will converge. This guaranty, which must be determined a priori, involve the use of some criterion expressible in terms of the entries of the coefficient matrix. It is, therefore, logical that the convergence criterion should depend implicitly on the algebraic structure of such a method. However, in deference to this view is the practice of conducting convergence analysis for Gauss-Seidel iteration on a criterion formulated based on the algebraic structure of Jacobi iteration. To remedy this anomaly, the Gauss-Seidel iteration was studied for its algebraic structure and contrary to the usual assumption, it was discovered that some property of the iteration matrix of Gauss-Seidel method is only diagonally dominant in its first row while the other rows do not satisfy diagonal dominance. With the aid of this structure we herein fashion out an improved version of Gauss-Seidel iteration with the prospect of enhancing convergence and robustness of the method. A numerical section is included to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical results obtained for the improved Gauss-Seidel method.

Keywords: linear algebraic system, Gauss-Seidel iteration, algebraic structure, convergence

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Authors: Ruchi Makani, B. V. R. Reddy

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Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) are gaining popularity due to their potential of providing low-cost mobile connectivity solutions to real-world communication problems. Integrating Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) in MANETs is a tedious task by reason of its distinctive features such as dynamic topology, de-centralized authority and highly controlled/limited resource environment. IDS primarily use automated soft-computing techniques to monitor the inflow/outflow of traffic packets in a given network to detect intrusion. Use of machine learning techniques in IDS enables system to make decisions on intrusion while continuous keep learning about their dynamic environment. An appropriate IDS model is essential to be selected to expedite this application challenges. Thus, this paper focused on fuzzy-logic based machine learning IDS technique for MANETs and presented their applicability for achieving effectiveness in identifying the intrusions. Further, the selection of appropriate protocol attributes and fuzzy rules generation plays significant role for accuracy of the fuzzy-logic based IDS, have been discussed. This paper also presents the critical attributes of MANET’s routing protocol and its applicability in fuzzy logic based IDS.

Keywords: AODV, mobile adhoc networks, intrusion detection, anomaly detection, fuzzy logic, fuzzy membership function, fuzzy inference system

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Authors: Giovanni Cicceri, Roberta Maisano, Nathalie Morey, Salvatore Distefano

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The main goal of this paper is to present a solution for a water purification system based on an Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT) platform to monitor and control water quality and machine learning (ML) models to support decision making and speed up the processes of purification of water. A real case study has been implemented by deploying an EIoT platform and a network of devices, called Gramb meters and belonging to the Gramb project, on wastewater purification systems located in Calabria, south of Italy. The data thus collected are used to control the wastewater quality, detect anomalies and predict the behaviour of the purification system. To this extent, three different statistical and machine learning models have been adopted and thus compared: Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) autoencoder, and Facebook Prophet (FP). The results demonstrated that the ML solution (LSTM) out-perform classical statistical approaches (ARIMA, FP), in terms of both accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness in monitoring and controlling the wastewater purification processes.

Keywords: environmental internet of things, EIoT, machine learning, anomaly detection, environment monitoring

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Authors: Mei Yuin Joanne Wee, Rosli Md. Illias

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Cell surface display is the expression of a protein with an anchoring motif on the surface of the cell. This approach offers advantages when used in bioconversion in terms of easier purification steps and more efficient enzymatic reaction. A surface display system using ice nucleation protein (InaA) from Erwina ananas as an anchoring motif has been constructed to display xylanase (xyl) on the surface of Escherischia coli. The InaA was truncated so that it is made up of the N- and C-terminal domain (INPANC-xyl) and it has successfully directed xylanase to the surface of the cell. A study was also done on xylanase fused to two other ice nucleation proteins, InaK (INPKNC-xyl) and InaZ (INPZNC-xyl) from Pseudomonas syringae KCTC 1832 and Pseudomonas syringae S203 respectively. Surface localization of the fusion protein was verified using SDS-PAGE and Western blot on the cell fractions and all anchoring motifs were successfully displayed on the outer membrane of E. coli. Upon comparison, whole-cell activity of INPANC-xyl was more than six and five times higher than INPKNC-xyl and INPZNC-xyl respectively. Furthermore, the expression of INPANC-xyl on the surface of E. coli did not inhibit the growth of the cell. This is the first report of surface display system using ice nucleation protein, InaA from E. ananas. From this study, this anchoring motif offers an attractive alternative to the current surface display systems.

Keywords: cell surface display, Escherischia coli, ice nucleation protein, xylanase

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Authors: Florencio D. De Los Reyes, Magdaleno R. Vasquez Jr., Mark Daniel G. De Luna, Peerasak Paoprasert

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The effect of adding silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) obtained from rice husk, and phosphorus and nitrogen based compounds namely 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenantrene-10-oxide (DOPO) and melamine, respectively, on the flammability of polystyrene (PS) was studied using response surface methodology (RSM). The flammability of PS was reduced as the limiting oxygen index (LOI) values increased when the flame retardant additives were added. DOPO exhibited the best retarding property increasing the LOI value of PS by 42.4%. A quadratic model for LOI was obtained from the RSM results, with percent loading of SiNPs, DOPO, and melamine, as independent variables. The observed increase in the LOI value as the percent loading of the flame retardant additives is increased, was attributed both to the main effects and synergistic effects of the parameters, as the LOI response of SiNPs is greatly enhanced by the addition of DOPO and melamine, as shown by the response surface plots. This indicates the potential of producing a cheaper, effective, and non-toxic multi-flame retardant system for the polymeric system via different flame retarding mechanisms.

Keywords: flame retardancy, polystyrene, response surface methodology, rice husk, silica nanoparticle

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Authors: Moshe Wasserblat, Jonathan Mamou, Oren Pereg

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Natural Language Processing (NLP) has made a major leap in the last few years, in practical integration into medical solutions; for example, extracting clinical concepts from medical texts such as medical condition, medication, treatment, and symptoms. However, training and deploying those models in real environments still demands a large amount of annotated data and NLP/Machine Learning (ML) expertise, which makes this process costly and time-consuming. We present a practical and efficient method for clinical concept extraction that does not require costly labeled data nor ML expertise. The method includes three steps: Step 1- the user injects a large in-domain text corpus (e.g., PubMed). Then, the system builds a contextual model containing vector representations of concepts in the corpus, in an unsupervised manner (e.g., Phrase2Vec). Step 2- the user provides a seed set of terms representing a specific medical concept (e.g., for the concept of the symptoms, the user may provide: ‘dry mouth,’ ‘itchy skin,’ and ‘blurred vision’). Then, the system matches the seed set against the contextual model and extracts the most semantically similar terms (e.g., additional symptoms). The result is a complete set of terms related to the medical concept. Step 3 –in production, there is a need to extract medical concepts from the unseen medical text. The system extracts key-phrases from the new text, then matches them against the complete set of terms from step 2, and the most semantically similar will be annotated with the same medical concept category. As an example, the seed symptom concepts would result in the following annotation: “The patient complaints on fatigue [symptom], dry skin [symptom], and Weight loss [symptom], which can be an early sign for Diabetes.” Our evaluations show promising results for extracting concepts from medical corpora. The method allows medical analysts to easily and efficiently build taxonomies (in step 2) representing their domain-specific concepts, and automatically annotate a large number of texts (in step 3) for classification/summarization of medical reports.

Keywords: clinical concepts, concept expansion, medical records annotation, medical records summarization

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Authors: Eman M. Eissa, Hany M. Hasanin, Mahmoud Abd-Elhamid, S. M. Muyeen, T. Fernando, H. H. C. Iu

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Among all available wind energy conversion systems (WECS), the direct driven permanent magnet synchronous generator integrated with power electronic interfaces is becoming popular due to its capability of extracting optimal energy capture, reduced mechanical stresses, no need to external excitation current, meaning less losses, and more compact size. Simple structure, low maintenance cost; and its decoupling control performance is much less sensitive to the parameter variations of the generator. This paper attempts to present a review of the control and optimization strategies of WECS based on permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and overview the most recent research trends in this field. The main aims of this review include; the generalized overall WECS starting from turbines, generators, and control strategies including converters, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), ending with DC-link control. The optimization methods of the controller parameters necessary to guarantee the operation of the system efficiently and safely, especially when connected to the power grid are also presented.

Keywords: control and optimization techniques, permanent magnet synchronous generator, variable speed wind turbines, wind energy conversion system

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Authors: J. Vasauskaite

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From the perspective of Lithuanian furniture enterprises, the role of energy efficiency is significant as it leads to direct economic benefits, increased competitiveness and higher productivity. There are various possible improvements in energy efficiency in industry: changes in the production process, investment in R&D, implementation of energy-saving technologies or energy management systems. The research aims to contribute the understanding of energy efficiency importance in industry by presenting possible improvements of energy use in different manufacturing process of enterprises. The evaluation methodology included quantitative and qualitative research methods: the comparative and statistical analysis of primary and secondary sources of information. This paper provides the detailed analysis of the energy efficiency development opportunities and challenges in Lithuanian furniture industry. The results of the study show the importance of technological innovations, energy efficiency policies and environmental management strategies in developing energy efficiency within the wood and furniture industry. The analysis of energy efficiency development in Lithuanian furniture industry showed that the industrial activities are influenced by various internal and external factors such as increasing flows of products, human resources and overall management decisions; dynamic growth and increasing competition; emerging need for environmental information. In the light of these factors, Lithuanian furniture industry has undergone significant changes – restructuring, technological advances and business model innovations, allowing it to be more export-oriented and focus on upgrading quality, design and innovation.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy policy, furniture industry, technological innovation

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Authors: M. Ezati Kooshki, A. Abbaszadeh Shahri

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A number of devices used to control seismic structures have been developed during the past decades. One of the effective ways to reduce seismic forces transmitted to the buildings is through the base isolation systems, but the use of these devices is currently limited to large and expensive buildings. This study was an attempt to introduce an effective and low cost way to protect of structures against grand motions by a semi base isolation system. In this new way, structures were not completely decoupled of bases and the natural frequency of structures was changed due to earthquake by changing the horizontal stiffness; therefore, ground excitation energy was dissipated before entering the structures. For analyzing the dynamic behavior, the new method used finite element software (ABAQUS 6-10-1). This investigation introduced a new package of semi base isolation devices with a new material constitutive, but common in automobile industries, seeking to evaluate the effects of additional new devices on the seismic response when compared with structures without additional devises for different ground motions. The proposed semi base isolation devices were applied to a one story frame and the time history analysis was conducted on the record of Kobe earthquake (1995). The results showed that the efficiency reduced the floor acceleration and displacement, as well as velocity.

Keywords: semi base isolation system, finite element, natural frequency, horizontal stiffness

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Authors: Ziyuan Wu, Yulong Jia, Xiang Zhang, Wanting Zhou, Lei Li

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly evolving field involving a large number of interconnected embedded devices. In the design of embedded System-on-Chip (SoC), the key issues are power consumption, performance, and security. However, the easy-to-implement software and untrustworthy third-party IP cores may threaten the safety of hardware assets. Considering that illegal access and malicious attacks against SoC resources pass through the bus that integrates IPs, we propose a Lightweight Hardware Firewall (LHF) to protect SoC, which monitors and disallows the offending bus transactions based on physical addresses. Furthermore, under the LHF architecture, this paper refines two types of firewalls: Destination Hardware Firewall (DHF) and Source Hardware Firewall (SHF). The former is oriented to fine-grained detection and configuration, whose core technology is based on the method of dynamic grading units. In addition, we design the SHF based on static entries to achieve lightweight. Finally, we evaluate the hardware consumption of the proposed method by both Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and IC. Compared with the exciting efforts, LHF introduces a bus latency of zero clock cycles for every read or write transaction implemented on Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGAs. Meanwhile, the DC synthesis results based on TSMC 90nm show that the area is reduced by about 25% compared with the previous method.

Keywords: IoT, security, SoC, bus architecture, lightweight hardware firewall, FPGA

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Authors: Neeraj Gupta, Jitendra Mahakud

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The banking system plays a major role in the Indian economy. Banking system is the payment gateway of most of the financial transactions. Banking has gone a major transition that is still in progress. Recent banking reforms after liberalization in 1991 have led to the establishment of the foreign banks in the country. The foreign banks are not listed in the Indian stock markets and have increased the competition leading to the capture of the significant share in the revenue from the public sector banks which are still the major players in the Indian banking sector. The performance of the banking sector depends on the internal (bank specific) as well as the external (market specific and macroeconomic) factors. Profitability in banking sector is affected by numerous factors which can be internal or external. The present study examines these internal and external factors which are likely to effect the profitablilty of the Indian banks. The sample consists of a panel dataset of 64 commercial banks in India, consisting of 1088 observations over the years from 1998 to 2016. The GMM dynamic panel estimation given by Arellano and Bond has been used. The study revealed that the variables capital adequacy ratio, deposit, age, labour productivity, non-performing asset, inflation and concentration have significant effect on performance measured.

Keywords: banks in India, bank performance, bank productivity, banking management

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Authors: Huseyn Nuraddin Qurbanov

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The reliable food supply of the population of the republic is one of the main directions of the state's economic policy. Grain growing, which is the basis of agriculture, is important in this area. In the cultivation of cereals on the slopes, the application of equal amounts of mineral fertilizers the under the soil before sowing is a very important technological process. The low level of technical equipment in this area prevents producers from providing the country with the necessary quality cereals. Experience in the operation of modern technical means has shown that, at present, there is a need to provide an equal amount of fertilizer on the slopes to under the soil, fully meeting the agro-technical requirements. No fundamental changes have been made to the industrial machines that fertilize the under the soil, and unequal application of fertilizers under the soil on the slopes has been applied. This technological process leads to the destruction of new seedlings and reduced productivity due to intolerance to frost during the winter for the plant planted in the fall. In special climatic conditions, there is an optimal fertilization rate for each agricultural product. The application of fertilizers to the soil is one of the conditions that increase their efficiency in the field. As can be seen, the development of a new technical proposal for fertilizing and plowing the slopes in equal amounts on the slopes, improving the technological and design parameters, and taking into account the physical and mechanical properties of fertilizers is very important. Taking into account the above-mentioned issues, a combined plough was developed in our laboratory. Combined plough carries out pre-sowing technological operation in the cultivation of cereals, providing a smooth equal amount of mineral fertilizers under the soil on the slopes. Mathematical models of a smooth spreader that evenly distributes fertilizers in the field have been developed. Thus, diagrams and graphs obtained without distribution on the 8 partitions of the smooth spreader are constructed under the inclined angles of the slopes. Percentage and productivity of equal distribution in the field were noted by practical and theoretical analysis.

Keywords: combined plough, mineral fertilizer, equal sowing, fertilizer norm, grain-crops, sowing fertilizer

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Authors: Mojtaba Heydarizad

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Andarokh basin is one of the main karstic regions in Khorasan Razavi province NE Iran. This basin is part of Kopeh-Dagh mega zone extending from Caspian Sea in the east to northern Afghanistan in the west. This basin is covered by Mozdooran Formation, Ngr evaporative formation and quaternary alluvium deposits in descending order of age. Mozdooran carbonate formation is notably karstified. The main surface karstic features in Mozdooran formation are Groove karren, Cleft karren, Rain pit, Rill karren, Tritt karren, Kamintza, Domes, and Table karren. In addition to surface features, deep karstic feature Andarokh Cave also exists in the region. Studying Ca, Mg, Mn, Sr, Fe concentration and Sr/Mn ratio in Mozdooran formation samples with distance to main faults and joints system using PCA analyses demonstrates intense meteoric digenesis role in controlling carbonate rock geochemistry. The karst evaluation in Andarokh basin varies from early stages 'deep seated karst' in Mesozoic to mature karstic system 'Exhumed karst' in quaternary period. Andarokh cave (the main cave in Andarokh basin) is rudimentary branch work consists of three passages of A, B and C and two entrances Andarokh and Sky.

Keywords: Andarokh basin, Andarokh cave, geochemical analyses, karst evaluation

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Authors: Chanchal Biswas, Anrin Bhattacharyya, Gopes Chandra Das, Mahua Ghosh Chaudhuri, Rajib Dey

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Boiler coals with low fixed carbon and higher ash content have always challenged the metallurgists to develop a suitable method for their utilization. In the present study, an attempt is made to establish an energy effective method for the reduction of iron ore fines in the form of nuggets by using ‘Syngas’. By devolatisation (expulsion of volatile matter by applying heat) of boiler coal, gaseous product (enriched with reducing agents like CO, CO2, H2, and CH4 gases) is generated. Iron ore nuggets are reduced by this syngas. For that reason, there is no direct contact between iron ore nuggets and coal ash. It helps to control the minimization of the sulphur intake of the reduced nuggets. A laboratory scale devolatisation furnace designed with reduction facility is evaluated after in-depth studies and exhaustive experimentations including thermo-gravimetric (TG-DTA) analysis to find out the volatile fraction present in boiler grade coal, gas chromatography (GC) to find out syngas composition in different temperature and furnace temperature gradient measurements to minimize the furnace cost by applying one heating coil. The nuggets are reduced in the devolatisation furnace at three different temperatures and three different times. The pre-reduced nuggets are subjected to analytical weight loss calculations to evaluate the extent of reduction. The phase and surface morphology analysis of pre-reduced samples are characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), carbon sulphur analyzer and chemical analysis method. Degree of metallization of the reduced nuggets is 78.9% by using boiler grade coal. The pre-reduced nuggets with lesser sulphur content could be used in the blast furnace as raw materials or coolant which would reduce the high quality of coke rate of the furnace due to its pre-reduced character. These can be used in Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) as coolant also.

Keywords: alternative ironmaking, coal gasification, extent of reduction, nugget making, syngas based DRI, solid state reduction

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Authors: Michał Witas

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This paper presents a technical approach to analysis of security of SCADA systems. Main goal of the paper is to make SCADA administrators aware of risks resulting from SCADA systems usage and to familiarize with methods that can be adopt to existing or planned system, to increase overall system security level. Because SCADA based systems become a industrial standard, more attention should be paid to the security of that systems. Industrial Control Systems (ICS) like SCADA are responsible for controlling crucial aspects of wide range of industrial processes. In pair with that responsibility, goes a lot of money that can be earned or lost – this fact is main reason of increased interest of attackers. Additionally ICS are often responsible for maintaining resources strategic from the point of view of national economy, like electricity (including nuclear power plants), heating, water resources or military facilities, so they can be targets of terrorist cybernetic attacks. Without proper risk analysis and management, vulnerabilities resulting from the usage of SCADA can be easily exploited by potential attacker. Paper is based mostly on own experience in systems security, gathered during academic studies and professional work in international company. As title suggests, it will cover only basics of topic, because every of points mentioned in the document can be base for additional research and papers.

Keywords: denial of service, SCADA, security policy, distributed network

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Authors: Digdem M. Siyez, Bariscan Ozturk, Erol Esen, Ender Siyez, Yelda Kagnici, Bahar Baran

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Infertility is a reproductive disease identified with the absence of pregnancy after regular unprotected sexual intercourse that has been lasting for 12 months or more. Some of the factors that cause infertility, which has been considered as a social and societal issue since the first days of the humankind, are preventable. These are veneral diseases, age, the frequency of the intercourse and its timing, drug use, bodyweight, environmental and professional conditions. Having actual information about the reproductive health is essential to take protective and preventive measures, and it is accepted as the most effective way to reduce the rate of infertility. However, during the literature review, it has been observed that there are so few studies that focus on the prevention of the infertility. The aim of this study is to develop a psycho-education program to reduce infertility among university students and also to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. It is believed that this program will increase the information level about infertility among the university students, help them to adopt healthy attitudes, develop life skills, create awareness about the risk factors and also contribute to the literature. Throughout the study, first, the contents of sexual/reproductive health programs developed for university students were examined by the researches. Besides, “Views about Reproductive Health Psycho-education Program Survey” was developed and applied to 10221 university students from 21 universities. In accordance with the literature and the university students’ views about reproductive health psycho-education program consisting of 9 sessions each of which lasts for 90 minutes was developed. The pilot program was carried out with 16 volunteer undergraduate students attending to a state university. During the evaluation of the pilot study, at the end of each session “Session Evaluation Form” and at the end of the entire program “Program Evaluation Form” were administered to the participants. Besides, one week after the end of the program, a focus group with half of the group, and individual interviews with the rest were conducted. Based on the evaluations, it was determined that the session duration is enough, the teaching methods meet the expectation, the techniques applied are appropriate and clear, and the materials are adequate. Also, an extra session was added to psycho-education program based on the feedbacks of the participants. In order to evaluate program’s effectiveness, Solomon control group design will be used. According to this design, the research has 2 experiment groups and 2 control groups. The participants who voluntarily participated in the research after the announcement of the psycho-education program were divided into experiment and control groups. In the experiment 1 and control 1 groups, “Personal Information Test”, “Infertility Information Test” and “Infertility Attitude Scale”, “Self Identification Inventory” and “Melbourne Decision Scale” were administered as a preliminary test. Currently, at the present stage, psycho-education still continues. After this 10-week program, the same tests will be administered again as the post-tests. The decision upon which statistical method will be applied in the analysis will be made afterwards according to whether the data meets the presuppositions or not.

Keywords: infertility, prevention, psycho-education, reproductive health

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Authors: Ow Tze Weng, Suhaila Isaak, Yusmeeraz Yusof

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The trend of health care screening devices in the world is increasingly towards the favor of portability and wearability, especially in the most common electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system. This is because these wearable screening devices are not restricting the patient’s freedom and daily activities. While the demand of low power and low cost biomedical system on chip (SoC) is increasing in exponential way, the front end ECG sensors are still suffering from flicker noise for low frequency cardiac signal acquisition, 50 Hz power line electromagnetic interference, and the large unstable input offsets due to the electrode-skin interface is not attached properly. In this paper, a high performance CMOS amplifier for ECG sensors that suitable for low power wearable cardiac screening is proposed. The amplifier adopts the highly stable folded cascode topology and later being implemented into RC feedback circuit for low frequency DC offset cancellation. By using 0.13 µm CMOS technology from Silterra, the simulation results show that this front end circuit can achieve a very low input referred noise of 1 pV/√Hz and high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of 174.05 dB. It also gives voltage gain of 75.45 dB with good power supply rejection ratio (PSSR) of 92.12 dB. The total power consumption is only 3 µW and thus suitable to be implemented with further signal processing and classification back end for low power biomedical SoC.

Keywords: CMOS, ECG, amplifier, low power

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Authors: Desmond Chinedu Oparaku, Emmanuel Uwazie Anyanwu, Oyemike Victor Benson, Ogbonna Isaac-Nnadimele

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The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical discourse that highlights the challenges associated with management of indigenous knowledge with reference to developing countries. Literature review and brainstorming were used to collect relevant data and draw inferences. The findings indicate that non-existence of indigenous knowledge management policy (IKMP), low level of partnership drive among library and information services providers, non-uniformity of format and content of indigenous knowledge, inadequate funding, and lack of access to ICTs, lack of indigenous people with indigenous expertise and hoarding of knowledge as challenges to indigenous knowledge management. The study is based on literature review and information gathered through brain storming with professional colleagues the geographic scope as developing countries. The study has birth several implication based on the findings made. Professionally, it has necessitated the need for formulating a viable indigenous knowledge management policy (IKMP), creating of collaborative network through partnership, and integration of ICTs to indigenous knowledge management practices by libraries in developing countries etc. The originality of this paper is revealed in its capability as serving as an eye opener to librarians on the need for preserving and managing indigenous knowledge in developing countries. It further unlocks the possibilities of exploring empirical based researches to substantiate the theoretical issues raised in this paper. The findings may be used by library managers to improve indigenous knowledge management (IKM).

Keywords: developing countries, ICTs, indigenous knowledge, knowledge management

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Authors: Dejen Alemu, Murray E. Jennex, Temtim Assefa

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Agriculture is the mainstay of the Ethiopian economy; however, the sector is dominated by smallholder farmers resulting in land fragmentation and suffering from low productivity. Due to these issues, much effort has been put into the transformation of the sector to bring about more sustainable rural economic development. Technological advancements have been applied for the betterment of farmers resulting in the design of tools that are potentially capable of supporting the agricultural sector; however, their use and relevance are still alien to the local rural communities. The notion of the creating, capturing and sharing of knowledge has also been repetitively raised by many international donor agencies to transform the sector, yet the most current approaches to knowledge dissemination focus on knowledge that originates from the western view of scientific rationality while overlooking the role of indigenous knowledge (IK). Therefore, in agricultural knowledge management system (KMS) development, the integration of IKS with scientific knowledge is a critical success factor. The present study aims to contribute in the discourse on how to best integrate scientific and IK in agricultural KMS development. The conceptual framework of the research is anchored in concepts drawn from the theory of situated learning in communities of practice (CoPs): knowledge brokering. Using the KMS development practices of Ethiopian agricultural transformation agency as a case area, this research employed an interpretive analysis using primary and secondary qualitative data acquired through in-depth semi-structured interviews and participatory observations. As a result, concepts are identified for understanding the integration of the two major knowledge systems (i.e., indigenous and scientific knowledge) and participation of relevant stakeholders in particular the local farmers in agricultural KMS development through the roles of extension agent as a knowledge broker including crossing boundaries, in-between position, translation and interpretation, negotiation, and networking. The research shall have a theoretical contribution in addressing the incorporation of a variety of knowledge systems in agriculture and practically to provide insight for policy makers in agriculture regarding the importance of IK integration in agricultural KMS development and support marginalized small-scale farmers.

Keywords: communities of practice, indigenous knowledge, knowledge management system development, knowledge brokering

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Authors: Themistoklis Tzimas

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The proposed paper focuses on a triangular relationship, between human security, human development and responsibility to rebuild. This relationship constitutes the innovative contribution to the debate about human security. Human security constitutes a generic and legally binding notion, which orientates from an integrated approach the UN Charter principles and of the collective security system. Such an approach brings at the forefront of international law and of international relations not only states but non- state actors as well. Several doctrines attempt to implement the fore-mentioned approach among which the Responsibility to Protect- hereinafter R2P- doctrine and its aspect of Responsibility to Rebuild- hereinafter R2R. In this sense, R2P in general and R2R are supposed to be guided by human security imperatives. Human security because of its human- centered approach encompasses as an integral part of it, human development. Human development constitutes part of the backbone of human security, since it deals with the social and economic root- causes of the threats, which human security attempts to confront. In this sense, doctrines which orientate from human security, such as R2P and its R2R aspect should also take into account human development imperatives, in order to improve their efficiency. On the contrary though, R2R is more often linked with market- orientated policies, which are often imposed under transitional authorities, regardless of local needs. The implementation of such policies can be identified as a cause for striking failures in the framework of R2R. In addition it is a misinterpretation of the essence of human security and subsequently of R2P as well. The findings of the article, on the basis of the fore-mentioned argument is that a change must take place from a market- orientated misinterpretation of R2R to an approach attempting to implement human development doctrines, since the latter lie at the heart of human security and can be proven more effective in dealing with the root- causes of conflicts. Methodologically, the article begins with an examination of human security and of its binding nature on the basis of its orientation from the UN Charter. It also examines its significance in the framework of the collective security system. Then, follows the analysis of why and how human development constitutes an integral part of human security. At the next part it is proven that R2P in general and R2R more specifically constitute or should constitute an attempt to implement human security doctrines within the collective security system. Having built this triangular relationship it is argued that human development is proven to be the most suitable notion, so that the spirit of human security and the scopes of R2P are successfully implemented.

Keywords: human security, un charter, responsibility to protect, responsibility to rebuild, human development

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Authors: Esther Pearl Palmer

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Driven by the increased pressure on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to produce work-ready graduates for the modern world of work, this study reflects on triad teaching and learning practices to increase student engagement and employability. In the South African higher education context, the employability of graduates is imperative in strengthening the country’s economy and in increasing competitiveness. Within this context, the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) calls for innovative methods and approaches to teaching and learning and assessing the skills and competencies of graduates to render them employable. Digital competency in Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) is an important component and prerequisite for employment in HRM. The purpose of this research is to reflect on the subject HRIS developed by lecturers at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), with the intention to actively engage students in real-world learning activities and increase their employability. The Enrichment Triad Model (ETM) was used as theoretical framework to develop the subject as it supports a triad teaching and learning approach to education. It is, furthermore, an inter-structured model that supports collaboration between industry, academics and students. The study follows a mixed-method approach to reflect on the learning experiences of the industry, academics and students in the subject field over the past three years. This paper is a work in progress and seeks to broaden the scope of extant studies about student engagement in work-related learning to increase employability. Based on the ETM as theoretical framework and pedagogical practice, this paper proposes that following a triad teaching and learning approach will increase work-related skills of students. Findings from the study show that students, academics and industry alike regard educational opportunities that incorporate active learning experiences with the world of work enhances student engagement in learning and renders them more employable.

Keywords: digital competence, enriched triad model, human resource information systems, student engagement, triad pedagogy.

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Authors: Luis Alvarado, Victor Poblete, Isaac Gonzalez, Yetzabeth Gonzalez

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In MIREX 2016 (http://www.music-ir.org/mirex), the deep neural network (DNN)-Deep Chroma Extractor, proposed by Korzeniowski and Wiedmer, reached the highest score in an audio chord recognition task. In the present paper, this tool is assessed under acoustic reverberant environments and distinct source-microphone distances. The evaluation dataset comprises The Beatles and Queen datasets. These datasets are sequentially re-recorded with a single microphone in a real reverberant chamber at four reverberation times (0 -anechoic-, 1, 2, and 3 s, approximately), as well as four source-microphone distances (32, 64, 128, and 256 cm). It is expected that the performance of the trained DNN will dramatically decrease under these acoustic conditions with signals degraded by room reverberation and distance to the source. Recently, the effect of the bio-inspired Locally-Normalized Cepstral Coefficients (LNCC), has been assessed in a text independent speaker verification task using speech signals degraded by additive noise at different signal-to-noise ratios with variations of recording distance, and it has also been assessed under reverberant conditions with variations of recording distance. LNCC showed a performance so high as the state-of-the-art Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient filters. Based on these results, this paper proposes a variation of locally-normalized triangular filters called Locally-Normalized Quarter Tone (LNQT) filters. By using the LNQT spectrogram, robustness improvements of the trained Deep Chroma Extractor are expected, compared with classical triangular filters, and thus compensating the music signal degradation improving the accuracy of the chord recognition system.

Keywords: chord recognition, deep neural networks, feature extraction, music information retrieval

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Authors: Bahram Besharti, Hossein Navid, Hadi Karimi, Hossein Behfar, Iraj Eskandari

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Multiple or miss sowing by seed drills is a common problem on the farm. This problem causes overuse of seeds, wasting energy, rising crop treatment cost and reducing crop yield in harvesting. To be informed of mentioned faults and monitoring the performance of seed drills during sowing, developing a seed sensor for detecting seed mass flow rate and monitoring in a delivery tube is essential. In this research, an infrared seed sensor was developed to estimate seed mass flow rate in seed drills. The developed sensor comprised of a pair of spaced apart circuits one acting as an IR transmitter and the other acting as an IR receiver. Optical coverage in the sensing section was obtained by setting IR LEDs and photo-diodes directly on opposite sides. Passing seeds made interruption in radiation beams to the photo-diode which caused output voltages to change. The voltage difference of sensing units summed by a microcontroller and were converted to an analog value by DAC chip. The sensor was tested by using a roller seed metering device with three types of seeds consist of chickpea, wheat, and alfalfa (representing large, medium and fine seed, respectively). The results revealed a good fitting between voltage received from seed sensor and mass flow of seeds in the delivery tube. A linear trend line was set for three seeds collected data as a model of the mass flow of seeds. A final mass flow model was developed for various size seeds based on receiving voltages from the seed sensor, thousand seed weight and equivalent diameter of seeds. The developed infrared seed sensor, besides monitoring mass flow of seeds in field operations, can be used for the assessment of mechanical planter seed metering unit performance in the laboratory and provide an easy calibrating method for seed drills before planting in the field.

Keywords: seed flow, infrared, seed sensor, seed drills

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Authors: Mira Karnieli, Shosh Veitzman

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In recent years, due to transitions in teacher education, professional identities are changing. In many countries, the education system is absorbing ex-military personnel. The aim of this research is to investigate the phenomenon of retired officers in Israel who choose education as a second career and the training provided. The phenomenon of retired military permanent-service officers pursuing a career in education is not unique to Israel. In the United States and the United Kingdom, for example, government-supported accelerated programs (Troops to Teachers) are run for ex-military personnel (soldiers and officers) with a view to their entry into the education system. These programs direct the ex-military personnel to teacher education and training courses to obtain teaching certification. The present study, however, focused specifically on senior officers who have a full academic education, most of the participants hold second degrees in a variety of fields. They all retired from a rich military career, including roles in command, counseling, training, guidance, and management. The research included 80 participants' men and women. Data was drowning from in-depth interviews and questioner. The conceptual framework which guided this study was mixed methods. The qualitative-phenomenological methodology, using in-depth interviews, and a questioner. The study attempted to understand the motives and personal perceptions behind the choice of teaching. Were they able to identify prior skills that they had accumulated throughout their years of service? What were these skills? In addition, which (if any) would stand them in good stead for a career in teaching? In addition, they were asked how they perceived the training program’s contribution to their professionalization and integration in the education system. The data was independently coded by the researchers. Subsequently, the data was discussed by both researchers, codes were developed, and conceptual categories were formed. Analysis of the data shows this population to be characterized by the high motivation for studying, professionalization, contribution to society and a deep sense of commitment to education. All of them had a profession which they acquired in the past which is not related to education. However, their motives for choosing to teach are related to their wish to give expression to their leadership experience and ability, the desire to have an influence and to bring about change. This is derived from personal commitment, as well as from a worldview and value system that are supportive of education. In other words, they feel committed and act out of a sense of vocation. In conclusion, it will emphasize that all the research participants began working in education immediately upon completing the training program. They perceived this path as a way of realizing a mission despite the low status of the teaching profession in Israel and low teacher salaries.

Keywords: cross-boundary skills, lifelong learning, professional identities, teaching as a second career, training program

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Authors: Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Fatemeh Rezaei

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Introduction: Improving patient safety in health systems is one of the main priorities in healthcare systems, so clinical risk management in organizations has become increasingly significant. Although several tools have been developed for clinical risk management, each has its own limitations. Aims: This study aims to develop a comprehensive tool that can complete the limitations of each risk assessment and management tools with the advantage of other tools. Methods: Procedure was determined in two main stages included development of an initial model during meetings with the professors and literature review, then implementation and verification of final model. Subjects and Methods: This study is a quantitative − qualitative research. In terms of qualitative dimension, method of focus groups with inductive approach is used. To evaluate the results of the qualitative study, quantitative assessment of the two parts of the fourth phase and seven phases of the research was conducted. Purposive and stratification sampling of various responsible teams for the selected process was conducted in the operating room. Final model verified in eight phases through application of activity breakdown structure, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), healthcare risk priority number (RPN), root cause analysis (RCA), FT, and Eindhoven Classification model (ECM) tools. This model has been conducted typically on patients admitted in a day-clinic ward of a public hospital for surgery in October 2012 to June. Statistical Analysis Used: Qualitative data analysis was done through content analysis and quantitative analysis done through checklist and edited RPN tables. Results: After verification the final model in eight-step, patient's admission process for surgery was developed by focus discussion group (FDG) members in five main phases. Then with adopted methodology of FMEA, 85 failure modes along with its causes, effects, and preventive capabilities was set in the tables. Developed tables to calculate RPN index contain three criteria for severity, two criteria for probability, and two criteria for preventability. Tree failure modes were above determined significant risk limitation (RPN > 250). After a 3-month period, patient's misidentification incidents were the most frequent reported events. Each RPN criterion of misidentification events compared and found that various RPN number for tree misidentification reported events could be determine against predicted score in previous phase. Identified root causes through fault tree categorized with ECM. Wrong side surgery event was selected by focus discussion group to purpose improvement action. The most important causes were lack of planning for number and priority of surgical procedures. After prioritization of the suggested interventions, computerized registration system in health information system (HIS) was adopted to prepare the action plan in the final phase. Conclusion: Complexity of health care industry requires risk managers to have a multifaceted vision. Therefore, applying only one of retrospective or prospective tools for risk management does not work and each organization must provide conditions for potential application of these methods in its organization. The results of this study showed that the integrated clinical risk management model can be used in hospitals as an efficient tool in order to improve clinical governance.

Keywords: failure modes and effective analysis, risk management, root cause analysis, model

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Authors: Nalinee Sophatsathit

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The objectives of memorabilia of Suan Sunandha are to develop a general knowledge presentation about the historical royal garden through interactive graphic simulation technique and to employ high-functionality context in enhancing interactive user navigation. The approach infers non-intrusive display of relevant history in response to situational context. User’s navigation runs through the virtual reality campus, consisting of new and restored buildings. A flash back presentation of information pertaining to the history in the form of photos, paintings, and textual descriptions are displayed along each passing-by building. To keep the presentation lively, graphical simulation is created in a serendipity game play so that the user can both learn and enjoy the educational tour. The benefits of this human-computer interaction development are two folds. First, lively presentation technique and situational context modeling are developed that entail a usable paradigm of knowledge and information presentation combinations. Second, cost effective training and promotion for both internal personnel and public visitors to learn and keep informed of this historical royal garden can be furnished without the need for a dedicated public relations service. Future improvement on graphic simulation and ability based display can extend this work to be more realistic, user-friendly, and informative for all.

Keywords: interactive user navigation, high-functionality context, situational context, human-computer interaction

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Authors: Salih Akkemik

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User Experience has a characterized perspective based on two fundamentals: the usage process and the product. Digital games can be considered as a special interactive system. This system has a very specific purpose and this is to make the player feel good while playing. At this point, Player Experience (PX) and User Experience (UX) are similar. UX focuses on the user feels good, PX focuses on the player feels good. The most important difference between the two is the action taken. These are actions of using and playing. In this study, the player experience will be examined primarily. PX may differ on different platforms. Nowadays, companies are releasing the successful and high-income games that they have developed with cross-platform support. Cross-platform is the most common expression that an application can run on different operating systems, in other words, be developed to support different operating systems. In terms of digital games, cross-platform support means that a game can be played on a computer, console or mobile device environment, more specifically, the game developed is designed and programmed to be played in the same way on at least two different platforms, such as Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Orbis OS or Xbox OS. Different platforms also accommodate different player groups, profiles and preferences. This study aims to examine these different player profiles in terms of player experience and to determine the effects of cross-platform support on player experience.

Keywords: cross-platform, digital games, player experience, user experience

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Authors: Pratima Poudel, Austin Himes, Heidi Renninger, Eric McConnel

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Populus spp. (poplar) are the fastest-growing trees in North America, making them ideal for a range of applications as they can achieve high yields on short rotations and regenerate by coppice. Furthermore, poplar undergoes biochemical conversion to fuels without complexity, making it one of the most promising, purpose-grown, woody perennial energy sources. Employing wood-based biomass for bioenergy offers numerous benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to non-renewable traditional fuels, the preservation of robust forest ecosystems, and creating economic prospects for rural communities.In order to gain a better understanding of the potential use of poplar as a biomass feedstock for biofuel in the southeastern US, the conducted a techno-economic assessment (TEA). This assessment is an analytical approach that integrates technical and economic factors of a production system to evaluate its economic viability. the TEA specifically focused on a short rotation coppice system employing a single-pass cut-and-chip harvesting method for poplar. It encompassed all the costs associated with establishing dedicated poplar plantations, including land rent, site preparation, planting, fertilizers, and herbicides. Additionally, we performed a sensitivity analysis to evaluate how different costs can affect the economic performance of the poplar cropping system. This analysis aimed to determine the minimum average delivered selling price for one metric ton of biomass necessary to achieve a desired rate of return over the cropping period. To inform the TEA, data on the establishment, crop care activities, and crop yields were derived from a field study conducted at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Bearden Dairy Research Center in Oktibbeha County and Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwood Branch Experiment Station in Pontotoc County.

Keywords: biomass, populus species, sensitivity analysis, technoeconomic analysis

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