Search results for: exploratory factors analysis

Authors: Piotr Kacejko, Mariusz Duk, Miroslaw Wendeker

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This paper presents an adaptive controller to track the maximum power point of a photovoltaic modules (PV) under fast irradiation change on the city-bus roof. Photovoltaic systems have been a prominent option as an additional energy source for vehicles. The Municipal Transport Company (MPK) in Lublin has installed photovoltaic panels on its buses roofs. The solar panels turn solar energy into electric energy and are used to load the buses electric equipment. This decreases the buses alternators load, leading to lower fuel consumption and bringing both economic and ecological profits. A DC–DC boost converter is selected as the power conditioning unit to coordinate the operating point of the system. In addition to the conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic panel, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method also plays a main role to harvest most energy out of the sun. The MPPT unit on a moving vehicle must keep tracking accuracy high in order to compensate rapid change of irradiation change due to dynamic motion of the vehicle. Maximum power point track controllers should be used to increase efficiency and power output of solar panels under changing environmental factors. There are several different control algorithms in the literature developed for maximum power point tracking. However, energy performances of MPPT algorithms are not clarified for vehicle applications that cause rapid changes of environmental factors. In this study, an adaptive MPPT algorithm is examined at real ambient conditions. PV modules are mounted on a moving city bus designed to test the solar systems on a moving vehicle. Some problems of a PV system associated with a moving vehicle are addressed. The proposed algorithm uses a scanning technique to determine the maximum power delivering capacity of the panel at a given operating condition and controls the PV panel. The aim of control algorithm was matching the impedance of the PV modules by controlling the duty cycle of the internal switch, regardless of changes of the parameters of the object of control and its outer environment. Presented algorithm was capable of reaching the aim of control. The structure of an adaptive controller was simplified on purpose. Since such a simple controller, armed only with an ability to learn, a more complex structure of an algorithm can only improve the result. The presented adaptive control system of the PV system is a general solution and can be used for other types of PV systems of both high and low power. Experimental results obtained from comparison of algorithms by a motion loop are presented and discussed. Experimental results are presented for fast change in irradiation and partial shading conditions. The results obtained clearly show that the proposed method is simple to implement with minimum tracking time and high tracking efficiency proving superior to the proposed method. This work has been financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development, PBS, under Grant Agreement No. PBS 2/A6/16/2013.

Keywords: adaptive control, photovoltaic energy, city bus electric load, DC-DC converter

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Authors: Pia Ulvenblad, Henrik Barth, Jennie Cederholm BjöRklund, Maya Hoveskog, Per-Ola Ulvenblad

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The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. This is also valid for firms in the agri-food industry, closely connected to global challenges. Worldwide food production will have to increase 70% by 2050 and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals prioritize research and innovation on food security and sustainable agriculture. The firms of the agri-food industry have opportunities to increase their competitive advantage through BMI. However, the process of BMI is complex and the implementation of new business models is associated with high degree of risk and failure. Thus, managers from all industries and scholars need to better understand how to address this complexity. Therefore, the research presented in this paper (i) explores different categories of barriers in research literature on business models in the agri-food industry, and (ii) illustrates categories of barriers with empirical cases. This study is addressing the rather limited understanding on barriers for BMI in the agri-food industry, through a systematic literature review (SLR) of 570 peer-reviewed journal articles that contained a combination of ‘BM’ or ‘BMI’ with agriculture-related and food-related terms (e.g. ‘agri-food sector’) published in the period 1990-2014. The study classifies the barriers in several categories and illustrates the identified barriers with ten empirical cases. Findings from the literature review show that barriers are mainly identified as outcomes. It can be assumed that a perceived barrier to growth can often be initially exaggerated or underestimated before being challenged by appropriate measures or courses of action. What may be considered by the public mind to be a barrier could in reality be very different from an actual barrier that needs to be challenged. One way of addressing barriers to growth is to define barriers according to their origin (internal/external) and nature (tangible/intangible). The framework encompasses barriers related to the firm (internal addressing in-house conditions) or to the industrial or national levels (external addressing environmental conditions). Tangible barriers can include asset shortages in the area of equipment or facilities, while human resources deficiencies or negative willingness towards growth are examples of intangible barriers. Our findings are consistent with previous research on barriers for BMI that has identified human factors barriers (individuals’ attitudes, histories, etc.); contextual barriers related to company and industry settings; and more abstract barriers (government regulations, value chain position, and weather). However, human factor barriers – and opportunities - related to family-owned businesses with idealistic values and attitudes and owning the real estate where the business is situated, are more frequent in the agri-food industry than other industries. This paper contributes by generating a classification of the barriers for BMI as well as illustrating them with empirical cases. We argue that internal barriers such as human factors barriers; values and attitudes are crucial to overcome in order to develop BMI. However, they can be as hard to overcome as for example institutional barriers such as governments’ regulations. Implications for research and practice are to focus on cognitive barriers and to develop the BMI capability of the owners and managers of agri-industry firms.

Keywords: agri-food, barriers, business model, innovation

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Authors: Dandan Shen, Hui-zhu Wang, Xi Yu, LiLi Gui, Xiao Wei, Xiao-yan Jiang, Da-wei Wang, Min Hong

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Yu-ping-feng-san (YPFS) is a clinical medicine for asthma and other allergic diseases, but the mechanism of YPFS on relapse of allergy is unclear. Currently, people come to realize the epithelial cells(EC) play a key role in stimulating and regulating local immune response. The study of thymic stromal lymphopoietin（TSLP derived from EC provides an important evidence that the EC can regulate immune response to stimulate allergic response. In this study, we observed the effect of YPFS on TSLP in vivo and in vitro. We established a method by using bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) for screening potential bioactive components by HPLC-MS in YPFS and then analyzed the components in serum containing YPFS by UPLC-MS. The results showed that YPFS could decrease TSLP protein level in OVA-sensitized mice and 16HBE cells. Five components combing with the 16HBE cells were both detected in the serum.

Keywords: TSLP, bronchial epithelial cells, cell-binding, drug-containing serum

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Authors: German Osma, Gabriel Ordonez

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The production of metal-rubber spares for vehicles is a sequential process that consists in the transformation of raw material through cutting activities and chemical and thermal treatments, which demand electricity and fossil fuels. The energy efficiency analysis for these cases is mostly focused on studying of each machine or production step, but is not common to study of the quality of the production process achieves from aggregated value viewpoint, which can be used as a quality measurement for determining of impact on the environment. In this paper, the theory of exergetic cost is used for determining of aggregated exergy to three metal-rubber spares, from an exergy analysis and thermoeconomic analysis. The manufacturing processing of these spares is based into batch production technique, and therefore is proposed the use of this theory for discontinuous flows from of single models of workstations; subsequently, the complete exergy model of each product is built using flowcharts. These models are a representation of exergy flows between components into the machines according to electrical, mechanical and/or thermal expressions; they determine the demanded exergy to produce the effective transformation in raw materials (aggregated exergy value), the exergy losses caused by equipment and irreversibilities. The energy resources of manufacturing process are electricity and natural gas. The workstations considered are lathes, punching presses, cutters, zinc machine, chemical treatment tanks, hydraulic vulcanizing presses and rubber mixer. The thermoeconomic analysis was done by workstation and by spare; first of them describes the operation of the components of each machine and where the exergy losses are; while the second of them estimates the exergy-aggregated value for finished product and wasted feedstock. Results indicate that exergy efficiency of a mechanical workstation is between 10% and 60% while this value in the thermal workstations is less than 5%; also that each effective exergy-aggregated value is one-thirtieth of total exergy required for operation of manufacturing process, which amounts approximately to 2 MJ. These troubles are caused mainly by technical limitations of machines, oversizing of metal feedstock that demands more mechanical transformation work, and low thermal insulation of chemical treatment tanks and hydraulic vulcanizing presses. From established information, in this case, it is possible to appreciate the usefulness of theory of exergetic cost for analyzing of aggregated value in manufacturing processes.

Keywords: exergy-aggregated value, exergy efficiency, thermoeconomics, exergy modeling

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Authors: Claudia Rodriguez-Espinosa, Erika Elizabeth Pérez Múzquiz

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Since the creation of the “Pueblos Mágicos” program in 2001, a series of social and cultural events had directly affected the heritage conservation of the 121 registered localities until 2018, when the federal government terminated the program. Many studies have been carried out that seek to analyze from different perspectives and disciplines the consequences that these appointments have generated in the “Pueblos Mágicos.” Multidisciplinary groups such as the one headed by Carmen Valverde and Liliana López Levi, have brought together specialists from all over the Mexican Republic to create a set of diagnoses of most of these settlements, and although each one has unique specificities, there is a constant in most of them that has to do with the loss of cultural heritage and that is related to transculturality. There are several factors identified that have fostered a cultural loss, as a direct reflection of the economic crisis that prevails in Mexico. It is important to remember that the origin of this program had as its main objective to promote the growth and development of local economies since one of the conditions for entering the program is that they have less than 20,000 inhabitants. With this goal in mind, one of the first actions that many “Pueblos Mágicos” carried out was to improve or create an infrastructure to receive both national and foreign tourists since this was practically non-existent. Creating hotels, restaurants, cafes, training certified tour guides, among other actions, have led to one of the great problems they face: globalization. Although by itself it is not bad, its impact in many cases has been negative for heritage conservation. The entry into and contact with new cultures has led to the undervaluation of cultural traditions, their transformation and even their total loss. This work seeks to present specific cases of transformation and loss of cultural heritage, as well as to reflect on the problem and propose scenarios in which the negative effects can be reversed. For this text, 36 “Pueblos Mágicos” have been selected for study, based on those settlements that are cited in volumes I and IV (the first and last of the collection) of the series produced by the multidisciplinary group led by Carmen Valverde and Liliana López Levi (researchers from UNAM and UAM Xochimilco respectively) in the project supported by CONACyT entitled “Pueblos Mágicos. An interdisciplinary vision”, of which we are part. This sample is considered representative since it forms 30% of the total of 121 “Pueblos Mágicos” existing at that moment. With this information, the elements of its intangible heritage loss or transformation have been identified in every chapter based on the texts written by the participants of that project. Finally, this text shows an analysis of the effects that this federal program, as a public policy applied to 132 populations, has had on the conservation or transformation of the intangible cultural heritage of the “Pueblos Mágicos.” Transculturality, globalization, the creation of identities and the desire to increase the flow of tourists have impacted the changes that traditions (main intangible cultural heritage) have had in the 18 years that the federal program lasted.

Keywords: public policies, cultural tourism, heritage preservation, pueblos mágicos program

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Authors: W. M. M. Weerasooriya, K. T. N. P. Abeywickrama

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There has been some research on stress in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Still, the amount is not proportionate to the severity of the issue. This paper examined the effect of stress on job performance of frontline employees of Sri Lankan hotel context. Duly completed 70 self-administered questionnaires filled by frontline employees of star class hotels in North Central Province in Sri Lanka were used for the purpose with a response rate of 70%. The researcher employed empirical analysis using statistical tools such as regression analysis of Pearson’s correlation of coefficient. It was found that there is a high level of workload and role ambiguity existing among the frontline employees of hotels located in North Central Province and existing role ambiguity significantly reduce the job performance of the frontline employees of star class hotels while the existing low level of physical work environment also leads to a low level of job performance.

Keywords: hotel front line employees, job stress, job performance, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Rady Farag Aziz Ibrahim

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The gap between Islamic terrorism and human rights has become an important issue in the fight against Islamic terrorism worldwide. This situation is repeated because terrorism and human rights are interconnected in such a way that when the former begins, the latter becomes subject to violence. This unknown relationship was recognized in the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action adopted at the International Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna on 25 June 1993, confirming that terrorist acts, in all their forms and manifestations, aim to destroy the rights of individuals. humanity to destroy. Therefore, Islamic terrorism is a violation of basic human rights. For this purpose, the first part of the article will focus on the relationship between terrorism and human rights and the synergy between these two concepts. The second part then explores the emerging concept of cyber threats and how they exist. Additionally, technology analysis will be conducted against threats based on human rights. This will be achieved through analysis of the concept of 'securitization' of human rights and by striking a balance between counter-terrorism measures and the protection of human rights at all costs. This article concludes with recommendations on how to balance terrorism and human rights today.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development

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Authors: Youping Huang, Yang Liu

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Mountainous cities have unique landscape relationship, topography and urban spatial pattern different from plain cities, which put forward different requirements for greenway system planning strategy. Taking the greenway planning of Chengkou County in Chongqing as an example, this paper discusses the greenway system planning strategy of mountainous cities based on urban and rural green space, urban landscape resources, human resources and other factors. Through multi-angle maintenance of landscape pattern, multi-objective integration of urban resources, multi-level construction of greenway network, and multi-interactive development control, the sustainable development of mountain city landscape resources is realized, the new urban ecology is constructed, and the quality of life of urban and rural residents is improved.

Keywords: greenway planning, mountain city, landscape pattern, cultural resources, chongqing

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Authors: Linda Ana-Maria Ungureanu

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As space exploration opens to new actors, we are faced with the interesting question of regulating more complex structures that enable private experiments. From intellectual property implications to private and public law, there is a multitude of factors and legal structures that need to be taken into consideration when opening space, and these structures need to be harmonized with the International Space Treaties governing space exploration. In this sense, this article presents an overview of the legal and contractual framework applicable to private experiments conducted in space and/or in relation to off-world environments. Additionally, the article analyses the manner in which national space agencies regulate agreements concluded with private actors and research institutions. Finally, the article sets a series of de lege ferenda proposals for the regulation of general research and development rules and intellectual property matters that are connected to experiments and research conducted in space and/or concerning off-world environments.

Keywords: private space, intellectual property, contracts, ESA guidelines, EU legislation, Intellectual property law, international IP treaties

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Authors: Syed Hamid Farooq Bukhari

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This study intends to clarify the Friday sermon by evaluating the formation of its discourse, the composition, and selection of its subject matters, the structure, and functions of its rules as well as the outline of its communication proceeds, and the distinctiveness of its words along with definite provisions. In this research, a qualitative and descriptive method is used to draw out conclusions. This paper considers the sermon mechanism of the speech and advances it contextually. The information was composed in Pakistan and several of its mosques supposing the imams of the city and the location of the mosques. The presentation and analysis of the facts have directed to the subsequent conclusions: (1) the Friday sermon holds verbal discussion that has habitual and classic formation, (2) the approaches of the formation of the subjects consist of storytelling, quotation as well as the use of accepted terms, (3) the composition of the codes involves Arabic, English, Urdu, and many other local languages, (4) the expressions of the speech include all types of sermon acts, (5) different requisites emerge in the sermons demonstrating that the Friday sermon functions as an index or usage of verbal communication in an exacting field.

Keywords: Friday, sermons, Pakistan, social

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Authors: Nga Yui Tong

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Mandarin, the official language of China, is based on the Beijing dialect and is spoken by more than one billion people from all over the world. To investigate the trends of Mandarin acquisition, 192 preschoolers are recruited by stratified random sampling. They are from 4 different districts in Beijing, 2 schools in each district, with 4 age groups, both genders, and 3 children in each stratum. The children are paired up to conduct semi-structured free play for 30 minutes. Their language output is videotaped, transcribed, and coded for the calculation of Mean Length of Utterance (MLU). Two-way ANOVA showed that the variation of MLU is significantly contributed by age, which is coherent to previous findings of other languages. This first large-scale study to investigate the developmental trend of Mandarin in young children in Beijing provides empirical evidence to the development of standards and curriculum planning for early Mandarin education. Interestingly, the gender effect in the study is insignificant, with boys showing a slightly higher MLU than girls across all age groups and settings, except the 4.5 years same-gender dyads. The societal factors in the Chinese context on parenting and gender bias are worth looking into.

Keywords: Beijing, language development, Mandarin, preschoolers

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Authors: Yahaya Abdullahi, Ben Coetzee, Linda Van Den Berg

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The study aimed at establishing the global positioning system (GPS) determined singles match characteristics that act as predictors of successful and less-successful male singles badminton players’ group classification. Twenty-two (22) male single players (aged: 23.39 ± 3.92 years; body stature: 177.11 ± 3.06cm; body mass: 83.46 ± 14.59kg) who represented 10 African countries participated in the study. Players were categorised as successful and less-successful players according to the results of five championships’ of the 2014/2015 season. GPS units (MinimaxX V4.0), Polar Heart Rate Transmitter Belts and digital video cameras were used to collect match data. GPS-related variables were corrected for match duration and independent t-tests, a cluster analysis and a binary forward stepwise logistic regression were calculated. A Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC) was used to determine the validity of the group classification model. High-intensity accelerations per second were identified as the only GPS-determined variable that showed a significant difference between groups. Furthermore, only high-intensity accelerations per second (p=0.03) and low-intensity efforts per second (p=0.04) were identified as significant predictors of group classification with 76.88% of players that could be classified back into their original groups by making use of the GPS-based logistic regression formula. The ROC showed a value of 0.87. The identification of the last-mentioned GPS-related variables for the attainment of badminton performances, emphasizes the importance of using badminton drills and conditioning techniques to not only improve players’ physical fitness levels but also their abilities to accelerate at high intensities.

Keywords: badminton, global positioning system, match analysis, inertial movement analysis, intensity, effort

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Authors: Neil Morgan

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The notion of Threshold Concepts has offered a fertile new perspective on the transformative effects of mastery of particular concepts on student understanding of subject matter and their developing identities as inductees into disciplinary discourse communities. Only by successfully traversing key knowledge thresholds, it is claimed, can neophytes gain access to the more sophisticated understandings of subject matter possessed by mature members of a discipline. This paper uses thematic analysis of disciplinary guiding principles to identify nine candidate Threshold Concepts that appear to underpin effective TESOL practice. The relationship between these candidate TESOL Threshold Concepts, TESOL principles, and TESOL instructional techniques appears to be amenable to a schematic representation based on superordinate categories of TESOL practitioner concern and, as such, offers an alternative to the view of Threshold Concepts as a privileged subset of disciplinary core concepts. The paper concludes by exploring the potential of a Threshold Concepts framework to productively inform TESOL initial teacher education (ITE) and in-service education and training (INSET).

Keywords: TESOL, threshold concepts, TESOL principles, TESOL ITE/INSET, community of practice

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Authors: Umut Tac, Leyla Tavacioglu, Pelin Bolat

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Human factor has been one of the elements that cause vulnerabilities which can be resulted with accidents in maritime transportation. When the roots of human factor based accidents are analyzed, gaps in performing cognitive abilities (reaction time, attention, memory…) are faced as the main reasons for the vulnerabilities in complex environment of maritime systems. Thus cognitive processes in maritime systems have arisen important subject that should be investigated comprehensively. At this point, neurocognitive tests such as reaction time analysis tests have been used as coherent tools that enable us to make valid assessments for cognitive status. In this respect, the aim of this study is to evaluate the reaction time (response time or latency) of seafarers due to their occupational experience and age. For this study, reaction time for different maneuverers has been taken while the participants were performing a sea voyage through a simulator which was run up with a certain scenario. After collecting the data for reaction time, a statistical analyze has been done to understand the relation between occupational experience and cognitive abilities.

Keywords: cognitive abilities, human factor, neurocognitive test battery, reaction time

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Authors: Juliana Lukša, Bazilė Ravoitytė, Elena Servienė, Saulius Serva

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Totiviridae L-A virus is a persistent Saccharomyces cerevisiae dsRNA virus. It encodes the major structural capsid protein Gag and Gag-Pol fusion protein, responsible for virus replication and encapsulation. These features also enable the copying of satellite dsRNAs (called M dsRNAs) encoding a secreted toxin and immunity to it (known as killer toxin). Viral capsid pore presumably functions in nucleotide uptake and viral mRNA release. During cell division, sporogenesis, and cell fusion, the virions remain intracellular and are transferred to daughter cells. By employing high throughput RNA sequencing data analysis, we describe the influence of solely L-A virus on the expression of genes in three different S. cerevisiae hosts. We provide a new perception into Totiviridae L-A virus-related transcriptional regulation, encompassing multiple bioinformatics analyses. Transcriptional responses to L-A infection were similar to those induced upon stress or availability of nutrients. It also delves into the connection between the cell metabolism and L-A virus-conferred demands to the host transcriptome by uncovering host proteins that may be associated with intact virions. To better understand the virus-host interaction, we applied differential proteomic analysis of virus particle-enriched fractions of yeast strains that harboreither complete killer system (L-A-lus and M-2 virus), M-2 depleted orvirus-free. Our analysis resulted in the identification of host proteins, associated with structural proteins of the virus (Gag and Gag-Pol). This research was funded by the European Social Fund under the No.09.3.3-LMT-K-712-19-0157“Development of Competences of Scientists, other Researchers, and Students through Practical Research Activities” measure.

Keywords: totiviridae, killer virus, proteomics, transcriptomics

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Authors: Nithiya C., Komathi B. J., Praveena N. G., Samuda Prathima

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At present, the ultimate aim in digital system designs, especially at the gate level and lower levels of design abstraction, is power optimization. Adders are a nearly universal component of today's integrated circuits. Most of the research was on the design of high-speed adders to execute addition based on various adder structures. This paper discusses the ideal path for selecting an arithmetic unit for IoT applications. Based on the analysis of eight types of 16-bit adders, we found out Carry Look-ahead (CLA) produces low power. Additionally, multiplier and accumulator (MAC) unit is implemented with the Booth multiplier by using the low power adders in the order of preference. The design is synthesized and verified using Synopsys Design Compiler and VCS. Then it is implemented by using Cadence Encounter. The total power consumed by the CLA based booth multiplier is 0.03527mW, the total area occupied is 11260 um², and the speed is 2034 ps.

Keywords: carry look-ahead, carry select adder, CSA, internet of things, ripple carry adder, design rule check, power delay product, multiplier and accumulator

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Authors: Gurleen Kaur

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Being tall-short, fat-thin, black-white, etc. is an inevitable part of how people perceive you. This association of people with your external appearance carves out an identity for you. This paper will look at the reasons why people relate a person to a particular categorization on the basis of his/her physical appearance. The paper delves into reasons for this categorization into groups: Subconscious grouping, personal gain, ease of relating to the group, and social acceptance. Development of certain unique physical features also leads to a person relating himself to a collective identity. Thus, this paper will support the fact that physical appearance plays a crucial role in categorization of people into groups and hence forming a group identity for them. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part will discuss what physical appearance is and how is it linked to our daily lives. The second part will talk about why it works i.e. why this factor of external appearance is important in formation of identity. The last part will talk about the factors which lead to categorization of identity because of physical appearance.

Keywords: group identity, physical appearance, subconscious grouping, collective identity

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Authors: Seok-Hyeon Park, Joon-Hong Park, Mok-Tan-Ahn, Seong-Hun Ha

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Clad Pipe is made of a different kind of material, which is different from the internal and external materials, for the corrosive crude oil transportation tube. Most of the clad pipes are produced by hot rolling. However, problems arise due to high product prices and excessive process numbers. Therefore, in this study, the hot drawing process with excellent product cost, process number and productivity is applied. Due to the nature of the drawing process, the shape of the mold greatly influences the formability of the material and the bonding pressure of the two materials because it is a process of drawing the material to the die and reducing the cross-sectional area. Also, in case of hot drawing, if the mold shape is not suitable due to the increased fluidity of the material, it may cause problems such as tearing and stretching. Therefore, in this study, we try to find the shape of the mold which suppresses the occurrence of defects in the hot drawing process and maximizes the bonding pressure between the two materials through the mold shape optimization design by FEM analysis.

Keywords: clad pipe, hot drawing, bonding pressure, mold shape

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Authors: Supaporn Prajongjai, Pannarungsri Inpayoung

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This research attempts to explore the perception and satisfaction of international tourists toward Thai economy, politics and Bangkok attributes. Due to tourism industry provides a high rate of revenue for Thailand, and the outcome from this business drives every section of Thailand such as business, residents’ living level. Unfortunately, some incidents in the country, such as some turmoil, have ruined the city’s image which obviously impacts to the tourism industry, the major source of revenue. The size of this research was 400 international tourists who visit Bangkok, Thailand during the 1st – 20th March 2009 and age between 20 – 65 years. The results reveal that tourists satisfy with all of Bangkok’s attributes including general attractions, heritage attraction, maintenance factors and cultural attraction. Also, tourists’ perception toward Thai politics is significantly related to their satisfaction of Bangkok’s attributes, but their perception toward Thai economy is not significantly correlated to their satisfaction of Bangkok’s attributes.

Keywords: international tourists' perception, tourists' satisfactions, Thai economy, tourism destination

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Authors: Xiuying Wang, Changliang Li, Bo Xu

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A fixed-length feature vector is required for many machine learning algorithms in NLP field. Word embeddings have been very successful at learning lexical information. However, they cannot capture the compositional meaning of sentences, which prevents them from a deeper understanding of language. In this paper, we introduce a novel hierarchical tree long short-term memory (HTLSTM) model that learns vector representations for sentences of arbitrary syntactic type and length. We propose to split one sentence into three hierarchies: short phrase, long phrase and full sentence level. The HTLSTM model gives our algorithm the potential to fully consider the hierarchical information and long-term dependencies of language. We design the experiments on both English and Chinese corpus to evaluate our model on sentiment analysis task. And the results show that our model outperforms several existing state of the art approaches significantly.

Keywords: deep learning, hierarchical tree long short-term memory, sentence representation, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Hossein Kheirollahi, Yunhua Luo

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Studying stress and strain trends in the femur and recognizing femur failure mechanism is very important for preventing hip fracture in the elderly. The aim of this study was to identify high stress and strain regions in the femur during normal walking and falling to find the mechanical behavior and failure mechanism of the femur. We developed a finite element model of the femur from the subject’s quantitative computed tomography (QCT) image and used it to identify potentially high stress and strain regions during the single-leg stance and the sideways fall. It was found that fracture may initiate from the superior region of femoral neck and propagate to the inferior region during a high impact force such as sideways fall. The results of this study showed that the femur bone is more sensitive to strain than stress which indicates the effect of strain, in addition to effect of stress, should be considered for failure analysis.

Keywords: finite element analysis, hip fracture, strain, stress

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Authors: Dae Kyung Choi, Won Man Park, Kyungsoo Kim, Yoon Hyuk Kim

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The interspinous process devices have been recently used due to its advantages such as minimal invasiveness and less subsidence of the implant to the osteoporotic bone. In this paper, we have analyzed the influences of ligature tightening of several interspinous process devices using finite element analysis. Four types of interspinous process implants were inserted to the L3-4 spinal motion segment based on their surgical protocols. Inferior plane of L4 vertebra was fixed and 7.5 Nm of extension moment were applied on superior plane of L3 vertebra with 400N of compressive load along follower load direction and pretension of the ligature. The stability of the spinal unit was high enough than that of intact model. The higher value of pretension in the ligature led the decrease of dynamic stabilization effect in cases of the WallisTM, DiamTM, Viking, and Spear®. The results of present study could be used to evaluate surgical option and validate the biomechanical characteristics of the spinal implants.

Keywords: interspinous process device, bone fracture risk, lumbar spine, finite element analysis

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Authors: Radosław Pastusiak, Anna Kaźmierska, Magdalena Jasiniak

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The impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has been analyzed for many years by researchers. There are lot of theoretical studies proving the SEZs importance for regional development, however, there is lack of empirical studies (and they are mainly focused on China market) that are based on available data. The theoretical studies indicate the various impacts of enterprises operating within SEZs on the economy. The article proves that, in case of Poland, locating SEZs in municipalities is an important part of increasing municipalities’ income. Therefore SEZs have a positive impact on regional development. Municipality income is understood as taxes paid by taxpayers who depend on SEZ companies’ performance. The analysis includes the Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Personal Income Tax (PIT) and real estate tax. The effects of SEZs on regional development were narrowed to a few variables that are most significant for the financial system. The analysis indicates the significant impact of SEZs on the amount of taxes influencing the municipality budget.

Keywords: special economic zone, local finance, municipal finance, government

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Authors: Salmin K. Alshalmani, Nada H. Zobi, Ismaeel H. Bozakouk

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Marine organisms are potentially prolific sources of highly bio active secondary metabolites that might represent useful leads in the development of new pharmaceutical agents. The Libyan marine biodiversity including macroalgae remains partially unexplored in term of their potential bio activities. The phytochemical analysis of the alcoholic extracts of some commonly occurring seaweed Cystoseira compressa, enteromorpha intestinals, corallina, and Ulva lactuca and their evaluated for antibacterial activity by well diffusion assay were studied. Four different solvents namely water, ethanol 99 %, methanol 99 %, and methylated spirit 95 % were used for extraction. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of carbohydrates, steroids, tannin & phenols, saponins, proteins, and glycosides. The extracts were subjected for study of antibacterial activity. The zone of inhibition ranged between 8 to 16 mm in aqueous extract and up to 16 mm in methanol extract. The maximum activity (16 mm) was recorded from methanol extract of Ulva lactuca against Staphylococcus aureus and, minimum activity (8mm) recorded by Cystoseira compressa against S. aureus.

Keywords: macroalgae, phytochemicals, antibacterial activity, methanolic extract

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Authors: A. E. Dumitriu

Abstract:

The LHCb experiment is situated at one of the four points around CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, being a single-arm forward spectrometer covering 10 mrad to 300 (250) mrad in the bending (non-bending) plane, designed primarily to study particles containing b and c quarks. Each one of LHCb’s sub-detectors specializes in measuring a different characteristic of the particles produced by colliding protons, its significant detection characteristics including a high precision tracking system and 2 ring-imaging Cherenkov detectors for particle identification. The major two topics that I am currently concerned in are: the RIVET project (Robust Independent Validation of Experiment and Theory) which is an efficient and portable tool kit of C++ class library useful for validation and tuning of Monte Carlo (MC) event generator models by providing a large collection of standard experimental analyses useful for High Energy Physics MC generator development, validation, tuning and regression testing and V0 analysis for 2013 LHCb NoBias type data (trigger on bunch + bunch crossing) at √s=2.76 TeV.

Keywords: LHCb physics, RIVET plug-in, RIVET, CERN

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Yang Cui, Yong Qiang Chen

Abstract:

An appropriate project delivery system (PDS) is crucial to the success of a construction project. Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a useful support for PDS selection. However, the traditional CBR approach represents cases as attribute-value vectors without taking relations among attributes into consideration, and could not calculate the similarity when the structures of cases are not strictly same. Therefore, this paper solves this problem by adopting the relational case-based reasoning (RCBR) approach for PDS selection, considering both the structural similarity and feature similarity. To develop the feature terms of the construction projects, the criteria and factors governing PDS selection process are first identified. Then, feature terms for the construction projects are developed. Finally, the mechanism of similarity calculation and a case study indicate how RCBR works for PDS selection. The adoption of RCBR in PDS selection expands the scope of application of traditional CBR method and improves the accuracy of the PDS selection system.

Keywords: relational cased-based reasoning, case-based reasoning, project delivery system, PDS selection

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Authors: H. Nikzad, S. Yoshitomi

Abstract:

In this paper, the optimal seismic design of reinforced concrete shear wall-frame building structures was done using structural optimization. The optimal section sizes were generated through structural optimization based on linear static analysis conforming to American Concrete Institute building design code (ACI 318-14). An analytical procedure was followed to validate the accuracy of the proposed method by comparing stresses on structural members through output files of MATLAB and ETABS. In order to consider the difference of stresses in structural elements by ETABS and MATLAB, and to avoid over-stress members by ETABS, a stress constraint ratio of MATLAB to ETABS was modified and introduced for the most critical load combinations and structural members. Moreover, seismic design of the structure was done following the International Building Code (IBC 2012), American Concrete Institute Building Code (ACI 318-14) and American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE 7-10) standards. Typical reinforcement requirements for the structural wall, beam and column were discussed and presented using ETABS structural analysis software. The placement and detailing of reinforcement of structural members were also explained and discussed. The outcomes of this study show that the modification of section sizes play a vital role in finding an optimal combination of practical section sizes. In contrast, the optimization problem with size constraints has a higher cost than that of without size constraints. Moreover, the comparison of optimization problem with that of ETABS program shown to be satisfactory and governed ACI 318-14 building design code criteria.

Keywords: structural optimization, seismic design, linear static analysis, etabs, matlab, rc shear wall-frame structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Abdelbasit Gadour

Abstract:

A great number of children in mainstream schools across Libya are currently living with emotional, behavioral difficulties. This study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions of children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD) and their attributions of the causes of EBD. The relevance of this area of study to current educational practice is illustrated in the fact that primary school teachers in Libya find classroom behavior problems one of the major difficulties they face. The information presented in this study was gathered from 182 teachers that responded back to the survey, of whom 27 teachers were later interviewed. In general, teachers’ perceptions of EBD reflect personal experience, training, and attitudes. Teachers appear from this study to use words such as indifferent, frightened, withdrawn, aggressive, disobedient, hyperactive, less ambitious, lacking concentration, and academically weak to describe pupils with emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD). The implications of this study are envisaged as being extremely important to support teachers addressing children’s EBD and shed light on the contributing factors to EBD for a successful teaching-learning process in Libyan primary schools.

Keywords: children, emotional and behavior difficulties, learning, teachers'

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Saou Mohamed Amine

Abstract:

The construction industry has been identified as a user of substantial amount of materials and energy resources that has an enormous impact on environment. The energy efficient in refurbishment project is being considered as one of the approaches to achieve sustainability in construction industry. The increasing concern for environment has made building owners and designers to incorporate the energy efficiency features into their building projects. However, an overwhelming issue of existing non-energy efficient buildings which exceeds the number of new building could be ineffective if the buildings are not refurbished through the energy efficient measures. Thus, energy efficient in refurbishment project is being considered as one of the approaches to achieve sustainability that offers significant opportunities for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the quality of design team attributes and the characteristics of the refurbishment building projects have been argued to be the main factors that determine the energy efficiency performance of the building.

Keywords: construction industry, design team attributes, energy efficient performance, refurbishment projects characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Monday Agbonica Bello Eje

Abstract:

The language of the print media is characterized by the use of apposition. This linguistic element function strategically in journalistic discourse where it is communicatively necessary to name individuals and provide information about them. Linguistic studies on the language of the print media with bias for apposition have largely dwelt on other areas but the examination of the typology of appositive reference in newspaper discourse. Yet, it is capable of revealing ways writers communicate and provide information necessary for readers to follow and understand the message. The study, therefore, analyses the patterns of appositional occurrences and the typology of reference in newspaper articles. The data were obtained from The Punch and Daily Trust Newspapers. A total of six editions of these newspapers were collected randomly spread over three months. News and feature articles were used in the analysis. Guided by the referential theory of meaning in discourse, the appositions identified were subjected to analysis. The findings show that the semantic relation of coreference and speaker coreference have the highest percentage and frequency of occurrence in the data. This is because the subject matter of news reports and feature articles focuses on humans and the events around them; as a result, readers need to be provided with some form of detail and background information in order to identify as well as follow the discourse. Also, the non-referential relation of absolute synonymy and speaker synonymy no doubt have fewer occurrences and percentages in the analysis. This is tied to a major feature of the language of the media: simplicity. The paper concludes that appositions is mainly used for the purpose of providing the reader with much detail. In this way, the writer transmits information which helps him not only to give detailed yet concise descriptions but also in some way help the reader to follow the discourse.

Keywords: apposition, discourse, newspaper, Nigeria, reference

Procedia PDF Downloads 151