Search results for: aerial target
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3143

Search results for: aerial target

2033 Toward an Integrated Safe and Sustainable Food System: A General Overview

Authors: Erkan Rehber, Hasan Vural, Sule Turhan

Abstract:

It is a fact that food is a vital need of human beings. As a consumer, everyone has the right to access adequate and safe food. There are considerable development to establish quality standards and schemes to have safe foods and sustainable agriculture alternatives to protect natural resources and environment to reach this target. Recently, there is also a remarkable development in integration and combination of these efforts. Food Safety and Sustainable Agriculture Forum organized in 2014, Beijing shows that it is a global awareness more than being an individual view. Eventually, quality standards, assurance systems applied to conventional agriculture has to be applied to sustainable agriculture alternatives to have a holistic sustainable food chain from seed to fork. All actors of the whole food system from farmer to ultimate consumers, along with the state, have to work together meeting this big challenge.

Keywords: integrated safe, food safety, sustainable food system, consumer

Procedia PDF Downloads 559
2032 Generation of Knowlege with Self-Learning Methods for Ophthalmic Data

Authors: Klaus Peter Scherer, Daniel Knöll, Constantin Rieder

Abstract:

Problem and Purpose: Intelligent systems are available and helpful to support the human being decision process, especially when complex surgical eye interventions are necessary and must be performed. Normally, such a decision support system consists of a knowledge-based module, which is responsible for the real assistance power, given by an explanation and logical reasoning processes. The interview based acquisition and generation of the complex knowledge itself is very crucial, because there are different correlations between the complex parameters. So, in this project (semi)automated self-learning methods are researched and developed for an enhancement of the quality of such a decision support system. Methods: For ophthalmic data sets of real patients in a hospital, advanced data mining procedures seem to be very helpful. Especially subgroup analysis methods are developed, extended and used to analyze and find out the correlations and conditional dependencies between the structured patient data. After finding causal dependencies, a ranking must be performed for the generation of rule-based representations. For this, anonymous patient data are transformed into a special machine language format. The imported data are used as input for algorithms of conditioned probability methods to calculate the parameter distributions concerning a special given goal parameter. Results: In the field of knowledge discovery advanced methods and applications could be performed to produce operation and patient related correlations. So, new knowledge was generated by finding causal relations between the operational equipment, the medical instances and patient specific history by a dependency ranking process. After transformation in association rules logically based representations were available for the clinical experts to evaluate the new knowledge. The structured data sets take account of about 80 parameters as special characteristic features per patient. For different extended patient groups (100, 300, 500), as well one target value as well multi-target values were set for the subgroup analysis. So the newly generated hypotheses could be interpreted regarding the dependency or independency of patient number. Conclusions: The aim and the advantage of such a semi-automatically self-learning process are the extensions of the knowledge base by finding new parameter correlations. The discovered knowledge is transformed into association rules and serves as rule-based representation of the knowledge in the knowledge base. Even more, than one goal parameter of interest can be considered by the semi-automated learning process. With ranking procedures, the most strong premises and also conjunctive associated conditions can be found to conclude the interested goal parameter. So the knowledge, hidden in structured tables or lists can be extracted as rule-based representation. This is a real assistance power for the communication with the clinical experts.

Keywords: an expert system, knowledge-based support, ophthalmic decision support, self-learning methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 252
2031 Historical Development of Bagh-e Dasht in Herat, Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Field Survey of Physical and Social Aspects

Authors: Khojesta Kawish, Tetsuya Ando, Sayed Abdul Basir Samimi

Abstract:

Bagh-e Dasht area is situated in the northern part of Herat, an old city in western Afghanistan located on the Silk Road which has received a strong influence from Persian culture. Initially, the Bagh-e Dasht area was developed for gardens and palaces near Joy-e Injil canal during the Timurid Empire in the 15th century. It is assumed Bagh-e Dasht became a settlement in the 16th century during the Safavid Empire. The oldest area is the southern part around the canal bank which is characterized by Dalans, sun-dried brick arcades above which houses are often constructed. Traditional houses in this area are built with domical vault roofs constructed with sun-dried bricks. Bagh-e Dasht is one of the best-preserved settlements of traditional houses in Herat. This study examines the transformation of the Bagh-e Dasht area with a focus on Dalans, where traditional houses with domical vault roofs have been well-preserved until today. The aim of the study is to examine the extent of physical changes to the area as well as changes to houses and the community. This research paper contains original results which have previously not been published in architectural history. The roof types of houses in the area are investigated through examining high resolution satellite images. The boundary of each building and space is determined by both a field survey and aerial photographs of the study area. A comprehensive field survey was then conducted to examine each space and building in the area. In addition, a questionnaire was distributed to the residents of the Dalan houses and interviews were conducted with the Wakil (Chief) of the area, a local historian, residents and traditional builders. The study finds that the oldest part of Bagh-e Dasht area, the south, contains both Dalans and domical vault roof houses. The next oldest part, which is the north, only has domical vault roof houses. The rest of the area only has houses with modernized flat roofs. This observation provides an insight into the process of historical development in the Bagh-e Dasht area.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Bagh-e Dasht, Dalan, domical vault, Herat, over path house, traditional house

Procedia PDF Downloads 132
2030 Automatic Number Plate Recognition System Based on Deep Learning

Authors: T. Damak, O. Kriaa, A. Baccar, M. A. Ben Ayed, N. Masmoudi

Abstract:

In the last few years, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems have become widely used in the safety, the security, and the commercial aspects. Forethought, several methods and techniques are computing to achieve the better levels in terms of accuracy and real time execution. This paper proposed a computer vision algorithm of Number Plate Localization (NPL) and Characters Segmentation (CS). In addition, it proposed an improved method in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) based on Deep Learning (DL) techniques. In order to identify the number of detected plate after NPL and CS steps, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm is proposed. A DL model is developed using four convolution layers, two layers of Maxpooling, and six layers of fully connected. The model was trained by number image database on the Jetson TX2 NVIDIA target. The accuracy result has achieved 95.84%.

Keywords: ANPR, CS, CNN, deep learning, NPL

Procedia PDF Downloads 304
2029 The Effect of Vibration Amplitude on Tissue Temperature and Lesion Size When Using a Vibrating Cardiac Catheter

Authors: Kaihong Yu, Tetsui Yamashita, Shigeaki Shingyochi, Kazuo Matsumoto, Makoto Ohta

Abstract:

During cardiac ablation, high power delivery for deeper lesion formation is limited by electrode-tissue interface overheating which can cause serious complications such as thrombus. To prevent this overheating, temperature control and open irrigation are often used. In temperature control, radiofrequency generator is adjusted to deliver the maximum output power, which maintains the electrode temperature at a target temperature (commonly 55°C or 60°C). Then the electrode-tissue interface temperature is also limited. The electrode temperature is a result of heating from the contacted tissue and cooling from the surrounding blood. Because the cooling from blood is decreased under conditions of low blood flow, the generator needs to decrease the output power. Thus, temperature control cannot deliver high power under conditions of low blood flow. In open irrigation, saline in room temperature is flushed through the holes arranged in the electrode. The electrode-tissue interface is cooled by the sufficient environmental cooling. And high power delivery can also be done under conditions of low blood flow. However, a large amount of saline infusions (approximately 1500 ml) during irrigation can cause other serious complication. When open irrigation cannot be used under conditions of low blood flow, a new overheating prevention may be required. The authors have proposed a new electrode cooling method by making the catheter vibrating. The previous work has introduced that the vibration can make a cooling effect on electrode, which may result form that the vibration could increase the flow velocity around the catheter. The previous work has also proved that increasing vibration frequency can increase the cooling by vibration. However, the effect of the vibration amplitude is still unknown. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of vibration amplitude on tissue temperature and lesion size. An agar phantom model was used as a tissue-equivalent material for measuring tissue temperature. Thermocouples were inserted into the agar to measure the internal temperature. Porcine myocardium was used for lesion size measurement. A normal ablation catheter was set perpendicular to the tissue (agar or porcine myocardium) with 10 gf contact force in 37°C saline without flow. Vibration amplitude of ± 0.5, ± 0.75, and ± 1.0 mm with a constant frequency (31 Hz or 63) was used. A temperature control protocol (45°C for agar phantom, 60°C for porcine myocardium) was used for the radiofrequency applications. The larger amplitude shows the larger lesion sizes. And the higher tissue temperatures in agar phantom are also shown with the higher amplitude. With a same frequency, the larger amplitude has the higher vibrating speed. And the higher vibrating speed will increase the flow velocity around the electrode more, which leads to a larger electrode temperature decrease. To maintain the electrode at the target temperature, ablator has to increase the output power. With the higher output power in the same duration, the released energy also increases. Consequently, the tissue temperature will be increased and lead to larger lesion sizes.

Keywords: cardiac ablation, electrode cooling, lesion size, tissue temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 369
2028 Force Feedback Enabled Syringe for Aspiration and Biopsy

Authors: Pelin Su Firat, Sohyung Cho

Abstract:

Biopsy or aspiration procedures are known to be complicated as they involve the penetration of a needle through human tissues, including vital organs. This research presents the design of a force sensor-guided device to be used with syringes and needles for aspiration and biopsy. The development of the device was aimed to help accomplish accurate needle placement and increase the performance of the surgeon in navigating the tool and tracking the target. Specifically, a prototype for a force-sensor embedded syringe has been created using 3D (3-Dimensional) modeling and printing techniques in which two different force sensors were used to provide significant force feedback to users during the operations when needles pernitrate different tissues. From the extensive tests using synthetic tissues, it is shown that the proposed syringe design has accomplished the desired accuracy, efficiency, repeatability, and effectiveness. Further development is desirable through usability tests.

Keywords: biopsy, syringe, force sensors, haptic feedback

Procedia PDF Downloads 63
2027 The Design of Imaginable Urban Road Landscape

Authors: Wang Zhenzhen, Wang Xu, Hong Liangping

Abstract:

With the rapid development of cities, the way that people commute has changed greatly, meanwhile, people turn to require more on physical and psychological aspects in the contemporary world. However, the current urban road landscape ignores these changes, for example, those road landscape elements are boring, confusing, fragmented and lack of integrity and hierarchy. Under such current situation, in order to shape beautiful, identifiable and unique road landscape, this article concentrates on the target of imaginability. This paper analyses the main elements of the urban road landscape, the concept of image and its generation mechanism, and then discusses the necessity and connotation of building imaginable urban road landscape as well as the main problems existing in current urban road landscape in terms of imaginability. Finally, this paper proposes how to design imaginable urban road landscape in details based on a specific case.

Keywords: identifiability, imaginability, road landscape, the image of the city

Procedia PDF Downloads 439
2026 Population Size Estimation Based on the GPD

Authors: O. Anan, D. Böhning, A. Maruotti

Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to estimate the elusive target population size under a truncated count model that accounts for heterogeneity. The purposed estimator is based on the generalized Poisson distribution (GPD), which extends the Poisson distribution by adding a dispersion parameter. Thus, it becomes an useful model for capture-recapture data where concurrent events are not homogeneous. In addition, it can account for over-dispersion and under-dispersion. The ratios of neighboring frequency counts are used as a tool for investigating the validity of whether generalized Poisson or Poisson distribution. Since capture-recapture approaches do not provide the zero counts, the estimated parameters can be achieved by modifying the EM-algorithm technique for the zero-truncated generalized Poisson distribution. The properties and the comparative performance of proposed estimator were investigated through simulation studies. Furthermore, some empirical examples are represented insights on the behavior of the estimators.

Keywords: capture, recapture methods, ratio plot, heterogeneous population, zero-truncated count

Procedia PDF Downloads 434
2025 Finding the Reaction Constant between Humic Acid and Aluminum Ion by Fluorescence Quenching Effect

Authors: Wen Po Cheng, Chen Zhao Feng, Ruey Fang Yu, Lin Jia Jun, Lin Ji Ye, Chen Yuan Wei

Abstract:

Humic acid was used as the removal target for evaluating the coagulation efficiency in this study. When the coagulant ions mix with a humic acid solution, a Fluorescence quenching effect may be observed conditionally. This effect can be described by Stern-Volmer linear equation which can be used for quantifying the quenching value (Kq) of the Fluorescence quenching effect. In addition, a Complex-Formation Titration (CFT) theory was conducted and the result was used to explain the electron-neutralization capability of the coagulant (AlCl₃) at different pH. The results indicated that when pH of the ACl₃ solution was between 6 and 8, fluorescence quenching effect obviously occurred. The maximum Kq value was found to be 102,524 at pH 6. It means that the higher the Kq value is, the better complex reaction between a humic acid and aluminum salts will be. Through the Kq value study, the optimum pH can be quantified when the humic acid solution is coagulated with aluminum ions.

Keywords: humic acid, fluorescence quenching effect, complex reaction, titration

Procedia PDF Downloads 576
2024 Trainability of Executive Functions during Preschool Age Analysis of Inhibition of 5-Year-Old Children

Authors: Christian Andrä, Pauline Hähner, Sebastian Ludyga

Abstract:

Introduction: In the recent past, discussions on the importance of physical activity for child development have contributed to a growing interest in executive functions, which refer to cognitive processes. By controlling, modulating and coordinating sub-processes, they make it possible to achieve superior goals. Major components include working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. While executive functions can be trained easily in school children, there are still research deficits regarding the trainability during preschool age. Methodology: This quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-design analyzes 23 children [age: 5.0 (mean value) ± 0.7 (standard deviation)] from four different sports groups. The intervention group was made up of 13 children (IG: 4.9 ± 0.6), while the control group consisted of ten children (CG: 5.1 ± 0.9). Between pre-test and post-test, children from the intervention group participated special games that train executive functions (i.e., changing rules of the game, introduction of new stimuli in familiar games) for ten units of their weekly sports program. The sports program of the control group was not modified. A computer-based version of the Eriksen Flanker Task was employed in order to analyze the participants’ inhibition ability. In two rounds, the participants had to respond 50 times and as fast as possible to a certain target (direction of sight of a fish; the target was always placed in a central position between five fish). Congruent (all fish have the same direction of sight) and incongruent (central fish faces opposite direction) stimuli were used. Relevant parameters were response time and accuracy. The main objective was to investigate whether children from the intervention group show more improvement in the two parameters than the children from the control group. Major findings: The intervention group revealed significant improvements in congruent response time (pre: 1.34 s, post: 1.12 s, p<.01), while the control group did not show any statistically relevant difference (pre: 1.31 s, post: 1.24 s). Likewise, the comparison of incongruent response times indicates a comparable result (IG: pre: 1.44 s, post: 1.25 s, p<.05 vs. CG: pre: 1.38 s, post: 1.38 s). In terms of accuracy for congruent stimuli, the intervention group showed significant improvements (pre: 90.1 %, post: 95.9 %, p<.01). In contrast, no significant improvement was found for the control group (pre: 88.8 %, post: 92.9 %). Vice versa, the intervention group did not display any significant results for incongruent stimuli (pre: 74.9 %, post: 83.5 %), while the control group revealed a significant difference (pre: 68.9 %, post: 80.3 %, p<.01). The analysis of three out of four criteria demonstrates that children who took part in a special sports program improved more than children who did not. The contrary results for the last criterion could be caused by the control group’s low results from the pre-test. Conclusion: The findings illustrate that inhibition can be trained as early as in preschool age. The combination of familiar games with increased requirements for attention and control processes appears to be particularly suitable.

Keywords: executive functions, flanker task, inhibition, preschool children

Procedia PDF Downloads 251
2023 Application of Artificial Immune Systems Combined with Collaborative Filtering in Movie Recommendation System

Authors: Pei-Chann Chang, Jhen-Fu Liao, Chin-Hung Teng, Meng-Hui Chen

Abstract:

This research combines artificial immune system with user and item based collaborative filtering to create an efficient and accurate recommendation system. By applying the characteristic of antibodies and antigens in the artificial immune system and using Pearson correlation coefficient as the affinity threshold to cluster the data, our collaborative filtering can effectively find useful users and items for rating prediction. This research uses MovieLens dataset as our testing target to evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm developed in this study. The experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively and accurately predict the movie ratings. Compared to some state of the art collaborative filtering systems, our system outperforms them in terms of the mean absolute error on the MovieLens dataset.

Keywords: artificial immune system, collaborative filtering, recommendation system, similarity

Procedia PDF Downloads 534
2022 Feature Extraction Technique for Prediction the Antigenic Variants of the Influenza Virus

Authors: Majid Forghani, Michael Khachay

Abstract:

In genetics, the impact of neighboring amino acids on a target site is referred as the nearest-neighbor effect or simply neighbor effect. In this paper, a new method called wavelet particle decomposition representing the one-dimensional neighbor effect using wavelet packet decomposition is proposed. The main idea lies in known dependence of wavelet packet sub-bands on location and order of neighboring samples. The method decomposes the value of a signal sample into small values called particles that represent a part of the neighbor effect information. The results have shown that the information obtained from the particle decomposition can be used to create better model variables or features. As an example, the approach has been applied to improve the correlation of test and reference sequence distance with titer in the hemagglutination inhibition assay.

Keywords: antigenic variants, neighbor effect, wavelet packet, wavelet particle decomposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 151
2021 The Using of Smart Power Concepts in Military Targeting Process

Authors: Serdal AKYUZ

Abstract:

The smart power is the use of soft and hard power together in consideration of existing circumstances. Soft power can be defined as the capability of changing perception of any target mass by employing policies based on legality. The hard power, generally, uses military and economic instruments which are the concrete indicator of general power comprehension. More than providing a balance between soft and hard power, smart power creates a proactive combination by assessing existing resources. Military targeting process (MTP), as stated in smart power methodology, benefits from a wide scope of lethal and non-lethal weapons to reach intended end state. The Smart powers components can be used in military targeting process similar to using of lethal or non-lethal weapons. This paper investigates the current use of Smart power concept, MTP and presents a new approach to MTP from smart power concept point of view.

Keywords: future security environment, hard power, military targeting process, soft power, smart power

Procedia PDF Downloads 473
2020 Analysis of Expression Data Using Unsupervised Techniques

Authors: M. A. I Perera, C. R. Wijesinghe, A. R. Weerasinghe

Abstract:

his study was conducted to review and identify the unsupervised techniques that can be employed to analyze gene expression data in order to identify better subtypes of tumors. Identifying subtypes of cancer help in improving the efficacy and reducing the toxicity of the treatments by identifying clues to find target therapeutics. Process of gene expression data analysis described under three steps as preprocessing, clustering, and cluster validation. Feature selection is important since the genomic data are high dimensional with a large number of features compared to samples. Hierarchical clustering and K Means are often used in the analysis of gene expression data. There are several cluster validation techniques used in validating the clusters. Heatmaps are an effective external validation method that allows comparing the identified classes with clinical variables and visual analysis of the classes.

Keywords: cancer subtypes, gene expression data analysis, clustering, cluster validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 147
2019 Mapping and Characterizing the Jefoure Cultural Landscape Which Provides Multiple Ecosystem Services to the Gurage People in Ethiopia

Authors: M. Achemo, O. Saito

Abstract:

Jefoure land use system is one of the traditional landscape human settlement patterns, and it is a cultural design and peculiar art of the people of Gurage in Ethiopia via which houses and trees flank roads left and right. Assessment of the multiple benefits of the traditional road that benefit society and development could enhance the understanding of the land use planners and decision makers to pay attention while planning and managing the land use system. Recent trend shows that the Jefoure land use is on the threshold of change as a result of flourishing road networks, overgrazing, and agricultural expansion. This study aimed to evaluate the multiple ecosystem services provided by the Jefoure land use system after characterization of the socio-ecological landscape. Information was compiled from existing data sources such as ordnance survey maps, aerial photographs, recent high resolution satellite imageries, designated questionnaires and interviews, and local authority contacts. The result generated scientific data on the characteristics, ecosystem services provision, and drivers of changes. The cultural landscape has novel characteristics and providing multiple ecosystem services to the community for long period of time. It is serving as road for humans, livestock and vehicles, habitat for plant species, regulating local temperature, climate, runoff and infiltration, and place for meeting, conducting religious and spiritual activities, holding social events such as marriage and mourning, playing station for children and court for football and other traditional games. As a result of its aesthetic quality and scenic beauty, it is considered as recreational place for improving mental and physical health. The study draws relevant land use planning and management solution in the improvement of socio-ecological resilience in the Jefoure land use system. The study suggests the landscape needs to be registrar as heritage site for recognizing the wisdom of the community and enhancing the conservation mechanisms.

Keywords: cultural landscape, ecosystem services, Gurage, Jefoure

Procedia PDF Downloads 129
2018 Collect Meaningful Information about Stock Markets from the Web

Authors: Saleem Abuleil, Khalid S. Alsamara

Abstract:

Events represent a significant source of information on the web; they deliver information about events that occurred around the world in all kind of subjects and areas. These events can be collected and organized to provide valuable and useful information for decision makers, researchers, as well as any person seeking knowledge. In this paper, we discuss an ongoing research to target stock markets domain to observe and record changes (events) when they happen, collect them, understand the meaning of each one of them, and organize the information along with meaning in a well-structured format. By using Semantic Role Labeling (SRL) technique, we identified four factors for each event in this paper: verb of action and three roles associated with it, entity name, attribute, and attribute value. We have generated a set of rules and techniques to support our approach to analyze and understand the meaning of the events taking place in stock markets.

Keywords: natuaral language processing, Arabic language, event extraction and understanding, sematic role labeling, stock market

Procedia PDF Downloads 392
2017 Status of Artisanal Fishery in Libya

Authors: Esmail Shakman, Khaled Etyab, Ibraheim Taboni, Mohamed Et-wail, Abdallah Ben Abdallah

Abstract:

This study was carried out along the Libyan coast during the period from 1st February to 31st March 2013. More than 120 landing sites have been visited in order to investigate their status and fishing activities. The study found that more than 91% of the landing sites were permanent and around 8% were seasonal. The type of landing sites were mostly harbors (42.86%), 31.75% protected bays and 25.4% are open beach. However, seven types of fishing boats were observed; flouka type was the largest percentage (70.06%), then 18.14% for mator, 3.28% for lampara, 0.41% for Tarrad, Gayag (0.16%), 5.97 for Daghesa, and 1.98% for batah. Moreover, the majority of them were concentrated in the western region of the country. The most common used fishing gearsare the trammel nets about 80%, which are used by flouka, mator, Tarrad, and batah. The using of trammel nets rely on the fishing season, fishes size and the target fish species. The other fishing gears are also used but occasionally.

Keywords: fishery, South Mediterranean, landing sites, marine biology

Procedia PDF Downloads 516
2016 Characterization of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets Based on Transmission Holographic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Authors: B. Zare-Farsani, M. Valieghbal, M. Tarkashvand, A. H. Farahbod

Abstract:

To provide the conditions for nuclear fusion by high energy and powerful laser beams, it is required to have a high degree of symmetry and surface uniformity of the spherical capsules to reduce the Rayleigh-Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities. In this paper, we have used the digital microscopic holography based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer to study the quality of targets for inertial fusion. The interferometric pattern of the target has been registered by a CCD camera and analyzed by Holovision software. The uniformity of the surface and shell thickness are investigated and measured in reconstructed image. We measured shell thickness in different zone where obtained non uniformity 22.82 percent.  

Keywords: inertial confinement fusion, mach-zehnder interferometer, digital holographic microscopy, image reconstruction, holovision

Procedia PDF Downloads 302
2015 Vibration Imaging Method for Vibrating Objects with Translation

Authors: Kohei Shimasaki, Tomoaki Okamura, Idaku Ishii

Abstract:

We propose a vibration imaging method for high frame rate (HFR)-video-based localization of vibrating objects with large translations. When the ratio of the translation speed of a target to its vibration frequency is large, obtaining its frequency response in image intensities becomes difficult because one or no waves are observable at the same pixel. Our method can precisely localize moving objects with vibration by virtually translating multiple image sequences for pixel-level short-time Fourier transform to observe multiple waves at the same pixel. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by analyzing several HFR videos of flying insects in real scenarios.

Keywords: HFR video analysis, pixel-level vibration source localization, short-time Fourier transform, virtual translation

Procedia PDF Downloads 107
2014 A Study on the Influence of Annealing Conditions on the Properties of ZnON Thin Films

Authors: Kiran Jose, Anjana J. G., Venu Anand, Aswathi R. Nair

Abstract:

This work investigates the change in structural, optical, and electrical properties of Zinc Oxynitride (ZnON) thin film when annealed in different atmospheres. ZnON film is prepared by reactively sputtering the Zinc target using argon, oxygen, and nitrogen. The deposited film is annealed for one hour at 3250C in the Vaccum condition and Nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres. XRD and Raman spectroscopy is used to study the structural properties of samples. The current conduction mechanism is examined by extracting voltage versus current characteristics on a logarithmic scale, and the optical response is quantified by analyzing persistent photoconductivity (PPC) behavior. This study proposes the optimum annealing atmosphere for ZnON thin film for a better transistor and photosensor application.

Keywords: Zinc oxynitride, thin film, annealing, DC sputtering

Procedia PDF Downloads 91
2013 Intertextuality in Tourism Advertising: Sources of Knowledge Asymmetries in Translating Vocative Texts

Authors: Maria Ilyushkina

Abstract:

The article addresses the problem of translating vocative texts with intertextual references and describes the influence of language on how knowledge and meaning are developed in the field of advertising. The starting point of the article takes advertisements from the sphere of tourism and the way we choose, translate, and interpret intertexts. The article focuses on the perception and understanding of the information in printed texts advertising recreational facilities and services for tourists as the target audience by representatives of other cultures and the knowledge intertexts convey. The authors argue that intertextuality complicates translation leading to knowledge asymmetries. Studying typical communicative failures is considered to be of great importance, allowing for improvement in the practice of translation in the sphere of advertising as well as preventing the fallacious transfer of knowledge when translating foreign intertexts.

Keywords: advertising, translation, intertext, Russian culture, knowledge asymmetries, tourism, vocative texts

Procedia PDF Downloads 134
2012 Speech Acts and Politeness Strategies in an EFL Classroom in Georgia

Authors: Tinatin Kurdghelashvili

Abstract:

The paper deals with the usage of speech acts and politeness strategies in an EFL classroom in Georgia (Rep of). It explores the students’ and the teachers’ practice of the politeness strategies and the speech acts of apology, thanking, request, compliment/encouragement, command, agreeing/disagreeing, addressing and code switching. The research method includes observation as well as a questionnaire. The target group involves the students from Georgian public schools and two certified, experienced local English teachers. The analysis is based on Searle’s Speech Act Theory and Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies. The findings show that the students have certain knowledge regarding politeness yet they fail to apply them in English communication. In addition, most of the speech acts from the classroom interaction are used by the teachers and not the students. Thereby, it is suggested that teachers should cultivate the students’ communicative competence and attempt to give them opportunities to practice more English speech acts than they do today.

Keywords: english as a foreign language, Georgia, politeness principles, speech acts

Procedia PDF Downloads 635
2011 ISAR Imaging and Tracking Algorithm for Maneuvering Non-ellipsoidal Extended Objects Using Jump Markov Systems

Authors: Mohamed Barbary, Mohamed H. Abd El-azeem

Abstract:

Maneuvering non-ellipsoidal extended object tracking (M-NEOT) using high-resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) observations is gaining momentum recently. This work presents a new robust implementation of the Jump Markov (JM) multi-Bernoulli (MB) filter for M-NEOT, where the M-NEOT’s ISAR observations are characterized using a skewed (SK) non-symmetrically normal distribution. To cope with the possible abrupt change of kinematic state, extension, and observation distribution over an extended object when a target maneuvers, a multiple model technique is represented based on an MB-track-before-detect (TBD) filter supported by SK-sub-random matrix model (RMM) or sub-ellipses framework. Simulation results demonstrate this remarkable impact.

Keywords: maneuvering extended objects, ISAR, skewed normal distribution, sub-RMM, JM-MB-TBD filter

Procedia PDF Downloads 57
2010 Bioremediation of Phenanthrene by Monocultures and Mixed Culture Bacteria Isolated from Contaminated Soil

Authors: A. Fazilah, I. Darah, I. Noraznawati

Abstract:

Three different bacteria capable of degrading phenanthrene were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated site. In this study, the phenanthrene-degrading activity by defined monoculture was determined and mixed culture was identified as Acinetobacter sp. P3d, Bacillus sp. P4a and Pseudomonas sp. P6. All bacteria were able to grow in a minimal salt medium saturated with phenanthrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. Phenanthrene degradation efficiencies by different combinations (consortia) of these bacteria were investigated and their phenanthrene degradation was evaluated by gas chromatography. Among the monocultures, Pseudomonas sp. P6 exhibited 58.71% activity compared to Acinetobacter sp. P3d and Bacillus sp. P4a which were 56.97% and 53.05%, respectively after 28 days of cultivation. All consortia showed high phenanthrene elimination which were 95.64, 79.37, 87.19, 79.21% for Consortia A, B, C and D, respectively. The results indicate that all of the bacteria isolated may effectively degrade target chemical and have a promising application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil purposes.

Keywords: phenanthrene, consortia, acinetobacter sp. P3d, bacillus sp. P4a, pseudomonas sp. P6

Procedia PDF Downloads 294
2009 A Unified Model for Orotidine Monophosphate Synthesis: Target for Inhibition of Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Authors: N. Naga Subrahmanyeswara Rao, Parag Arvind Deshpande

Abstract:

Understanding nucleotide synthesis reaction of any organism is beneficial to know the growth of it as in Mycobacterium tuberculosis to design anti TB drug. One of the reactions of de novo pathway which takes place in all organisms was considered. The reaction takes places between phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate and orotate catalyzed by orotate phosphoribosyl transferase and divalent metal ion gives orotdine monophosphate, a nucleotide. All the reaction steps of three experimentally proposed mechanisms for this reaction were considered to develop kinetic rate expression. The model was validated using the data for four organisms. This model could successfully describe the kinetics for the reported data. The developed model can serve as a reliable model to describe the kinetics in new organisms without the need of mechanistic determination. So an organism-independent model was developed.

Keywords: mechanism, nucleotide, organism, tuberculosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 333
2008 Evaluation of the Effect of Learning Disabilities and Accommodations on the Prediction of the Exam Performance: Ordinal Decision-Tree Algorithm

Authors: G. Singer, M. Golan

Abstract:

Providing students with learning disabilities (LD) with extra time to grant them equal access to the exam is a necessary but insufficient condition to compensate for their LD; there should also be a clear indication that the additional time was actually used. For example, if students with LD use more time than students without LD and yet receive lower grades, this may indicate that a different accommodation is required. If they achieve higher grades but use the same amount of time, then the effectiveness of the accommodation has not been demonstrated. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of including parameters related to LD and extended exam time, along with other commonly-used characteristics (e.g., student background and ability measures such as high-school grades), on the ability of ordinal decision-tree algorithms to predict exam performance. We use naturally-occurring data collected from hundreds of undergraduate engineering students. The sub-goals are i) to examine the improvement in prediction accuracy when the indicator of exam performance includes 'actual time used' in addition to the conventional indicator (exam grade) employed in most research; ii) to explore the effectiveness of extended exam time on exam performance for different courses and for LD students with different profiles (i.e., sets of characteristics). This is achieved by using the patterns (i.e., subgroups) generated by the algorithms to identify pairs of subgroups that differ in just one characteristic (e.g., course or type of LD) but have different outcomes in terms of exam performance (grade and time used). Since grade and time used to exhibit an ordering form, we propose a method based on ordinal decision-trees, which applies a weighted information-gain ratio (WIGR) measure for selecting the classifying attributes. Unlike other known ordinal algorithms, our method does not assume monotonicity in the data. The proposed WIGR is an extension of an information-theoretic measure, in the sense that it adjusts to the case of an ordinal target and takes into account the error severity between two different target classes. Specifically, we use ordinal C4.5, random-forest, and AdaBoost algorithms, as well as an ensemble technique composed of ordinal and non-ordinal classifiers. Firstly, we find that the inclusion of LD and extended exam-time parameters improves prediction of exam performance (compared to specifications of the algorithms that do not include these variables). Secondly, when the indicator of exam performance includes 'actual time used' together with grade (as opposed to grade only), the prediction accuracy improves. Thirdly, our subgroup analyses show clear differences in the effect of extended exam time on exam performance among different courses and different student profiles. From a methodological perspective, we find that the ordinal decision-tree based algorithms outperform their conventional, non-ordinal counterparts. Further, we demonstrate that the ensemble-based approach leverages the strengths of each type of classifier (ordinal and non-ordinal) and yields better performance than each classifier individually.

Keywords: actual exam time usage, ensemble learning, learning disabilities, ordinal classification, time extension

Procedia PDF Downloads 99
2007 Three Dimensional Analysis of Cubesat Thermal Vacuum Test

Authors: Maged Assem Soliman Mossallam

Abstract:

Thermal vacuum testing target is to qualify the space system and ensure its operability under harsh space environment. The functionality of the cubesat was checked at extreme orbit conditions. Test was performed for operational and nonoperational modes. Analysis is done to simulate the cubesat thermal cycling inside thermal vacuum chamber. Comsol Multiphysics finite element is used to solve three dimensional problem for the cubesat inside TVAC. Three dimensional CAD model is done using Autodesk Inventor program. The boundary conditions were applied from the actual shroud temperature. The input heat load variation with time is considered to solve the transient three dimensional problem. Results show that the simulated temperature profiles are within an acceptable range from the real testing data.

Keywords: cubesat, thermal vacuum test, testing simulation, finite element analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 149
2006 Metaphors in Egyptian News Headlines in Relation to the Egyptian Political Situation 2012-2013

Authors: Wesam Mohamed Abdel Khalek Ibrahim

Abstract:

This paper examines the use of metaphors in Arabic political news discourse, focusing particularly on the headlines of the news articles relating to the Egyptian political situation in the period from June 2012 to October 2013. Metaphors are skilfully manipulated in the headlines to influence the public stance towards several events and entities including Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Morsi, the June 30th uprising, Al-Sisi and the Armed Forces. The findings reveal that Arabic political news discourse shares basic features with its English counterpart, namely the use of metaphors as persuasive strategies and the presence of certain target domains. Insights gained from this study feed back into the conceptual metaphor theory by providing further evidence to the universality of metaphors.

Keywords: conceptual metaphor theory, political discourse, news discourse, Egyptian political situation

Procedia PDF Downloads 504
2005 Statistically Significant Differences of Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide Emission in Photocopying Process

Authors: Kiurski S. Jelena, Kecić S. Vesna, Oros B. Ivana

Abstract:

Experimental results confirmed the temporal variation of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide concentration during the working shift of the photocopying process in a small photocopying shop in Novi Sad, Serbia. The statistically significant differences of target gases were examined with two-way analysis of variance without replication followed by Scheffe's post hoc test. The existence of statistically significant differences was obtained for carbon monoxide emission which is pointed out with F-values (12.37 and 31.88) greater than Fcrit (6.94) in contrary to carbon dioxide emission (F-values of 1.23 and 3.12 were less than Fcrit).  Scheffe's post hoc test indicated that sampling point A (near the photocopier machine) and second time interval contribute the most on carbon monoxide emission.

Keywords: analysis of variance, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, photocopying indoor, Scheffe's test

Procedia PDF Downloads 325
2004 Prognostic Significance of Nuclear factor kappa B (p65) among Breast Cancer Patients in Cape Coast Teaching Hospital

Authors: Precious Barnes, Abraham Mensah, Leonard Derkyi-Kwarteng, Benjamin Amoani, George Adjei, Ernest Adankwah, Faustina Pappoe, Kwabena Dankwah, Daniel Amoako-Sakyi, Samuel Victor Nuvor, Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah, Ewura Seidu Yahaya, Patrick Kafui Akakpo, Roland Osei Saahene

Abstract:

Context: Breast cancer is a prevalent and aggressive type of cancer among African women, with high mortality rates in Ghana. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) is a transcription factor that has been associated with tumor progression in breast cancer. However, there is a lack of published data on NF-kB in breast cancer patients in Ghana or other African countries. Research Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of NF-kB (p65) expression and its association with various clinicopathological features in breast cancer patients at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Methodology: A total of 90 formalin-fixed breast cancer tissues and 15 normal breast tissues were used in this study. The expression level of NF-kB (p65) was examined using immunohistochemical techniques. Correlation analysis between NF-kB (p65) expression and clinicopathological features was performed using SPSS version 25. Findings: The study found that NF-kB (p65) was expressed in 86.7% of breast cancer tissues. There was a significant relationship between NF-kB (p65) expression and tumor grade, proliferation index (Ki67), and molecular subtype. High-level expression of NF-kB (p65) was more common in tumor grade 3 compared to grade 1, and Ki67 > 20 had higher expression of NF-kB (p65) compared to Ki67 ≤ 20. Triple-negative breast cancer patients had the highest overexpression of NF-kB (p65) compared to other molecular subtypes. There was no significant association between NF-kB (p65) expression and other clinicopathological parameters. Theoretical Importance: This study provides important insights into the expression of NF-kB (p65) in breast cancer patients in Ghana, particularly in relation to tumor grade and proliferation index. The findings suggest that NF-kB (p65) could serve as a potential biological marker for cancer stage, progression, prognosis and as a therapeutic target. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: Formalin-fixed breast cancer tissues and normal breast tissues were collected and analyzed using immunohistochemical techniques. Correlation analysis between NF-kB (p65) expression and clinicopathological features was performed using SPSS version 25. Question Addressed: This study addressed the question of the prognostic significance of NF-kB (p65) expression and its association with clinicopathological features in breast cancer patients in Ghana. Conclusion: This study, the first of its kind in Ghana, demonstrates that NF-kB (p65) is highly expressed among breast cancer patients at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, especially in triple-negative breast cancer patients. The expression of NF-kB (p65) is associated with tumor grade and proliferation index. NF-kB (p65) could potentially serve as a biological marker for cancer stage, progression, prognosis, and as a therapeutic target.

Keywords: breast cancer, Ki67, NF-kB (p65), tumor grade

Procedia PDF Downloads 70