Search results for: high mountain urban hydrology

Authors: Anuar Mohd Salleh, Mohd Effendi Daud

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This study presents a kinematic positioning approach which is use the GPS buoy for precise ocean surface monitoring. A GPS buoy data from two experiments have been processed using a precise, medium-range differential kinematic technique. In each case the data were collected for more than 24 hours at nearby coastal site at a high rate (1 Hz), along with measurements from neighboring tidal stations, to verify the estimated sea surface heights. Kinematic coordinates of GPS buoy were estimated using the epoch-wise pre-elimination and the backward substitution algorithm. Test results show the centimeter level accuracy in sea surface height determination can be successfully achieved using proposed technique. The centimeter level agreement between two methods also suggests the possibility of using this inexpensive and more flexible GPS buoy equipment to enhance (or even replace) the current use of tidal gauge stations.

Keywords: global positioning system, kinematic GPS, sea surface height, GPS buoy, tide gauge

Procedia PDF Downloads 530

Authors: Maria Luisa Barcena De Arellano, Sofya Pozdniakova, Pavelas Karkacas, Anja Kuhl, Istvan Baczko, Yury Ladilov, Vera Regitz-Zagrosek

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Introduction: Aging is associated with deterioration of the physiological function, leading to systemic inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction that promote the development of cardiovascular diseases. Sex differences in aging-related cardiovascular diseases have been postulated. However, their precise mechanisms remain unclear. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the sex difference in the age-related alteration in Sirt1-AMPK signaling and its relation to the mitochondrial biogenesis and inflammation. Methods: Male and female human non-disease lateral left ventricular wall tissue (young (17–40 years; n= 7 male and 7 female) and old (50–68 years; n= 9 male and 8 female)) were used. qRT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry assays were performed for expression analyses of Sirt1, AMPK, pAMPK, ac-Ku70, TFAM, PGC-1α, Sirt3, SOD2 and catalase. CD68 was used as a marker for macrophages and the ratio of IL-12:IL10 (pro-inflammatory phenotype (high IL-12/low IL-10) and anti-inflammatory phenotype (low IL-12/high IL-10) was used to examine the inflammatory stage in the heart. Results: Sirt1 expression was significantly higher in young females compared to young males, whereas in aged hearts Sirt1 expression was significantly downregulated in females, but not in males. In line with the Sirt1 downregulation in aged females, acetylation of nuclear Ku70, a direct target of Sirt1, in aged female hearts was significantly elevated. The activity of AMPK was significantly decreased in aged individuals, however no sex differences in the AMPK expression or activity were found in young or old individuals. The expression of mitochondrial proteins TOM40, SOD2 and Sirt3 was significantly higher in young females compared to young males, while in aged female hearts SOD2 and TOM40 were downregulated. In addition, the expression of catalase, a key cytosolic and mitochondrial anti-oxidative enzyme was significantly higher in young females and this female sex benefit was lost in aged hearts. In addition, the number of cardiac macrophages was significantly increased in old female, but not in male hearts. Consistently, the pro-inflammatory shift in old females was further confirmed by differences in the IL12/IL10 ratio in young female cardiac tissue in a favour of the anti-inflammatory mediator IL-10 (ratio 1:4) compared to young males (ratio 1:1). The anti-inflammatory environment in the heart was lost in aged females (ratio 1:1). Conclusion: Aging leads to the significant downregulation of Sirt1 expression and elevated acetylation of Ku70 in female, but not in male hearts. Furthermore, a beneficial upregulation of mitochondrial and anti-oxidative proteins in young females is lost with aging. Moreover, the malfunctions in the expression of Sirt1 and mitochondrial proteins in aged female hearts is accompanied by a significant pro-inflammatory shift. The study provides a molecular basis for the increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases in old women.

Keywords: inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, aging, Sirt1-AMPK axis

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Authors: Shef Amir Arasy

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In 2023, the world's population will be 7.8 billion, which has increased significantly in the last 20 years. Every country in the world is experiencing the impacts of climate change directly and indirectly. However, the community still needs to build massive infrastructure and buildings. The massive CO2 emissions which lead to climate change come from cement usage in construction activity. Bamboo is one of the most sustainable materials for reducing carbon emissions and releasing more than 30% oxygen compared to the mass of trees. Besides, bamboo harvest time is faster than other sustainable materials, around 3-4 years. Furthermore, Bamboo has a high tensile strength, which can provide ductility effectively to prevent damage to buildings during an earthquake. By the finite element method, this research analyzes bamboo configuration and connection for tall building structures under different earthquake frequencies and fire. The aim of this research is to provide proper design and connection of bamboo buildings that can be more reliable than concrete structures.

Keywords: bamboo, concrete, ductility, earthquake.

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Guang-Ho Cha

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This paper presents a context-sensitive media similarity search algorithm. One of the central problems regarding media search is the semantic gap between the low-level features computed automatically from media data and the human interpretation of them. This is because the notion of similarity is usually based on high-level abstraction but the low-level features do not sometimes reflect the human perception. Many media search algorithms have used the Minkowski metric to measure similarity between image pairs. However those functions cannot adequately capture the aspects of the characteristics of the human visual system as well as the nonlinear relationships in contextual information given by images in a collection. Our search algorithm tackles this problem by employing a similarity measure and a ranking strategy that reflect the nonlinearity of human perception and contextual information in a dataset. Similarity search in an image database based on this contextual information shows encouraging experimental results.

Keywords: context-sensitive search, image search, similarity ranking, similarity search

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Bai-Jing Peng, Shyh-Chyun Yang

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Organic reactions in water have recently attracted much attention, not only because unique reactivity is often observed in water but also because water is a safe and economical substitute for conventional organic solvents. Thus, development of environmental safe, atom-economical reactions in water is one of the most important goals of synthetic chemistry. The recent paper has documented renewed interest in the use of allylic substrates in the synthesis of new C−C, C−N, and C−O bonds. We have reported our attempts and some successful applications of a process involving the C-O bond cleavage catalyzed by palladium or platinum complexes in water. Because of the importance of heterocycle indole derivatives, much effort has been directed toward the development of methods for functionalization of the indole nucleus at N1 site. In our research, the palladium-catalyzed 2,3-disubstitued indoles with allylic alcohols was investigated under different conditions. Herein, we will establish a simple, convenient, and efficient method, which affords high yields of allylated indoles.

Keywords: palladium-catalyzed, allylic alcohols, indoles, water, allylation

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Samira Gharehkhani, Seyed Farid Seyed Shirazi, Abdolreza Gharehkhani, Hooman Yarmand, Ahmad Badarudin, Rushdan Ibrahim, Salim Newaz Kazi

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Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) were prepared by acid hydrolysis and ultrasound treatment of bleached Acacia mangium fibers. The obtained rod-shaped nanocrystals showed a uniform size. The results showed that NCC with high crystallinity can be obtained using 64 wt% sulfuric acid. The effect of synthesis condition was investigated. Different reaction times were examined to produce the NCC and the results revealed that an optimum reaction time has to be used for preparing the NCC. Morphological investigation was performed using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the crystallinity increased with successive treatments. The NCC suspension was homogeneous and stable and no sedimentation was observed for a long time.

Keywords: acid hydrolysis, nanocrystalline cellulose, nano material, reaction time

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: M. Salvador, J. C. Martinez-Garcia, A. Moyano, M. C. Blanco-Lopez, M. Rivas

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Biosensors play a crucial role in the detection of molecules nowadays due to their advantages of user-friendliness, high selectivity, the analysis in real time and in-situ applications. Among them, Lateral Flow Immunoassays (LFIAs) are presented among technologies for point-of-care bioassays with outstanding characteristics such as affordability, portability and low-cost. They have been widely used for the detection of a vast range of biomarkers, which do not only include proteins but also nucleic acids and even whole cells. Although the LFIA has traditionally been a positive/negative test, tremendous efforts are being done to add to the method the quantifying capability based on the combination of suitable labels and a proper sensor. One of the most successful approaches involves the use of magnetic sensors for detection of magnetic labels. Bringing together the required characteristics mentioned before, our research group has developed a biosensor to detect biomolecules. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPNPs) together with LFIAs play the fundamental roles. SPMNPs are detected by their interaction with a high-frequency current flowing on a printed micro track. By means of the instant and proportional variation of the impedance of this track provoked by the presence of the SPNPs, quantitative and rapid measurement of the number of particles can be obtained. This way of detection requires no external magnetic field application, which reduces the device complexity. On the other hand, the major limitations of LFIAs are that they are only qualitative or semiquantitative when traditional gold or latex nanoparticles are used as color labels. Moreover, the necessity of always-constant ambient conditions to get reproducible results, the exclusive detection of the nanoparticles on the surface of the membrane, and the short durability of the signal are drawbacks that can be advantageously overcome with the design of magnetically labeled LFIAs. The approach followed was to coat the SPIONs with a specific monoclonal antibody which targets the protein under consideration by chemical bonds. Then, a sandwich-type immunoassay was prepared by printing onto the nitrocellulose membrane strip a second antibody against a different epitope of the protein (test line) and an IgG antibody (control line). When the sample flows along the strip, the SPION-labeled proteins are immobilized at the test line, which provides magnetic signal as described before. Preliminary results using this practical combination for the detection and quantification of the Prostatic-Specific Antigen (PSA) shows the validity and consistency of the technique in the clinical range, where a PSA level of 4.0 ng/mL is the established upper normal limit. Moreover, a LOD of 0.25 ng/mL was calculated with a confident level of 3 according to the IUPAC Gold Book definition. Its versatility has also been proved with the detection of other biomolecules such as troponin I (cardiac injury biomarker) or histamine.

Keywords: biosensor, lateral flow immunoassays, point-of-care devices, superparamagnetic nanoparticles

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Authors: Rajeshkumar U. Sambhe

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Large scale Indian manufacturers started implementing Six Sigma to their supply core to fulfill the endless need of high quality products. As well, they initiated encouraging their suppliers to apply the well-ascertain SS management practice and kept no resource for supplier enterprises, generally small midsized enterprises to think for the admittance of Six Sigma as a quality promotion drive. There are many issues to study for requisite changes before the introduction of Six Sigma in auto SMEs. This paper converges on impeding factors while implementing SS drive and also pinpoints the gains achieved through successful implementation. The result of this study suggest some operational guidelines for effective implementation of Six Sigma from evidences acquired through research questionnaire and interviews with industrial professionals, apportioned to assort auto sector mid-sized enterprises (MSEs) in India.

Keywords: indian automotive SMEs, quality management practices, six sigma imperatives, problems faced in six sigma implementation, benefits, some guidelines for implementation

Procedia PDF Downloads 393

Authors: Mohammed Saif Al-Saidi, John P. T. Mo

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Modern engineering assets are complex and very high in value. They are expected to function for years to come, with ability to handle the change in technology and ageing modification. The aging of an engineering asset and continues increase of vendors and contractors numbers forces the asset operation management (or Owner) to design an asset system which can capture these changes. Furthermore, an accurate performance measurement and risk evaluation processes are highly needed. Therefore, this paper explores the nature of the asset management system performance evaluation for an engineering asset based on the System Support Engineering (SSE) principles. The research work explores the asset support system from a range of perspectives, interviewing managers from across a refinery organisation. The factors contributing to complexity of an asset management system are described in context which clusters them into several key areas. It is proposed that SSE framework may then be used as a tool for analysis and management of asset. The paper will conclude with discussion of potential application of the framework and opportunities for future research.

Keywords: asset management, performance, evaluation, modern engineering, System Support Engineering (SSE)

Procedia PDF Downloads 665

Authors: I. C. Okwulehie, J. A. Ogoke

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The phytocemical, mineral, proximate and heavy metals compositions of six edible and non-edible species of mushrooms were investigated. Fully fleshy mushrooms were used for the analysis. On the averagely, the bioactive constituents of the mushrooms were as follows Alkaloids 0.12 ± 0.02 – 1.01 ± 03 %, Tannins 0.44 ± 0.09 – 1.38 ± 0.6,). Phenols,(0.13 ± 0.01 – 0.26± 0.00, Saponins 0.14 ± 0.03 – 0.32 ± 0.04%, Flavonoids 0.08 ± 0.02 – 0.34 ± 0.02%. The result of proximate composition indicated that the mushroom contained (5.17 ± 0.06 – 12.28 ± 0.16% protein, 0.16 ± 0.02 – 0.67 ± 0.02% fats, 1.06 ± 0.03 – 8.49 ± 0.03 % fibre, (62.06 ± 0.52 – 80.01 ± 4.71% and carbohydrate. The mineral composition of the mushrooms were as follows, calcium 81.49 ± 2.32 - .914 ± 2.32mg/100g, Magnesium(8 ± 1.39-24 ± 2.40mg/100g, Potassium 64.54 ± 0.43 – 164.54 ± 1.23 mg/100g, sodium 9.47 ± 0.12 – 30.97 ± 0.16 mg/100g, and Phosphorus 22.19 ± 0.57-53.2± 0.44 mg/100g. Heavy metals concentration indicated Cadmium 0.7-0.94ppm. Zinc 27.82 – 70.98 ppm. Lead 0.66 – 2.86ppm and Copper 1.8-22.32ppm. The result obtained indicates that the mushrooms are of good sources of phytochemicals, proximate and minerals needed for maintenance of good health and can also be exploited in manufacture of drugs. Heavy metals obtained indicate that when consume intentionally in high content may cause liver, kidney damage and even death.

Keywords: bioactive, heavy metals, mushroom, nutritive

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Authors: W. S. Barber, S. L. King

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This paper reports on a pilot project to develop a collaborative partnership between a community college in rural northern Ontario, Canada, and an urban university in the greater Toronto area in Oshawa, Canada. Partner institutions will collaborate to address learning needs of university applicants whose goals are to attain an undergraduate university BA in Educational Studies and Digital Technology degree, but who may not live in a geographical location that would facilitate this pathways process. The UOIT BA degree is attained through a 2+2 program, where students with a 2 year college diploma or equivalent can attain a four year undergraduate degree. The goals reported on the project are as: 1. Our aim is to expand the BA program to include an additional stream which includes serious educational games, simulations and virtual environments, 2. Develop fully (using both synchronous and asynchronous technologies) online learning modules for use by university applicants who otherwise are not geographically located close to a physical university site, 3. Assess the digital competencies of all students, including members of local, distance and Indigenous communities using a validated tool developed and tested by UOIT across numerous populations. This tool, the General Technical Competency Use and Scale (GTCU) will provide the collaborating institutions with data that will allow for analyzing how well students are prepared to succeed in fully online learning communities. Philosophically, the UOIT BA program is based on a fully online learning communities model (FOLC) that can be accessed from anywhere in the world through digital learning environments via audio video conferencing tools such as Adobe Connect. It also follows models of adult learning and mobile learning, and makes a university degree accessible to the increasing demographic of adult learners who may use mobile devices to learn anywhere anytime. The program is based on key principles of Problem Based Learning, allowing students to build their own understandings through the co-design of the learning environment in collaboration with the instructors and their peers. In this way, this degree allows students to personalize and individualize the learning based on their own culture, background and professional/personal experiences. Using modified flipped classroom strategies, students are able to interrogate video modules on their own time in preparation for one hour discussions occurring in video conferencing sessions. As a consequence of the program flexibility, students may continue to work full or part time. All of the partner institutions will co-develop four new modules, administer the GTCU and share data, while creating a new stream of the UOIT BA degree. This will increase accessibility for students to bridge from community colleges to university through a fully digital environment. We aim to work collaboratively with Indigenous elders, community members and distance education instructors to increase opportunities for more students to attain a university education.

Keywords: aboriginal, college, competencies, digital, universities

Procedia PDF Downloads 208

Authors: Marlon Gallo, Eduardo Miguel, Laura Oca, Eneko Gonzalez, Unai Iraola

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The heat generation of an energy storage system is an essential topic when designing a battery pack and its cooling system. Heat generation estimation is used together with thermal models to predict battery temperature in operation and adapt the design of the battery pack and the cooling system to these thermal needs guaranteeing its safety and correct operation. In the present work, a comparison between the use of a heat flux sensor (HFS) for indirect measurement of heat losses in a cell and the widely used and simplified version of Bernardi’s equation for estimation is presented. First, a Li-ion cell is thermally characterized with an HFS to measure the thermal parameters that are used in a first-order lumped thermal model. These parameters are the equivalent thermal capacity and the thermal equivalent resistance of a single Li-ion cell. Static (when no current is flowing through the cell) and dynamic (making current flow through the cell) tests are conducted in which HFS is used to measure heat between the cell and the ambient, so thermal capacity and resistances respectively can be calculated. An experimental platform records current, voltage, ambient temperature, surface temperature, and HFS output voltage. Second, an equivalent circuit model is built in a Matlab-Simulink environment. This allows the comparison between the generated heat predicted by Bernardi’s equation and the HFS measurements. Data post-processing is required to extrapolate the heat generation from the HFS measurements, as the sensor records the heat released to the ambient and not the one generated within the cell. Finally, the cell temperature evolution is estimated with the lumped thermal model (using both HFS and Bernardi’s equation total heat generation) and compared towards experimental temperature data (measured with a T-type thermocouple). At the end of this work, a critical review of the results obtained and the possible mismatch reasons are reported. The results show that indirectly measuring the heat generation with HFS gives a more precise estimation than Bernardi’s simplified equation. On the one hand, when using Bernardi’s simplified equation, estimated heat generation differs from cell temperature measurements during charges at high current rates. Additionally, for low capacity cells where a small change in capacity has a great influence on the terminal voltage, the estimated heat generation shows high dependency on the State of Charge (SoC) estimation, and therefore open circuit voltage calculation (as it is SoC dependent). On the other hand, with indirect measuring the heat generation with HFS, the resulting error is a maximum of 0.28ºC in the temperature prediction, in contrast with 1.38ºC with Bernardi’s simplified equation. This illustrates the limitations of Bernardi’s simplified equation for applications where precise heat monitoring is required. For higher current rates, Bernardi’s equation estimates more heat generation and consequently, a higher predicted temperature. Bernardi´s equation accounts for no losses after cutting the charging or discharging current. However, HFS measurement shows that after cutting the current the cell continues generating heat for some time, increasing the error of Bernardi´s equation.

Keywords: lithium-ion battery, heat flux sensor, heat generation, thermal characterization

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Homayun Ghasemi, Mojtaba Yousefirad, Mozhgan Farzamisepehr

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Heavy metals are among soil pollutant resources that in case of accumulation in the soil and absorption by the plant, enter into the food chain and poison the plants or the people who consume those plants. This research was performed in order to examine the role of cadmium as a heavy metal in the activity of catalase and peroxidase as well as protein concentration in Trifolium resupinatum L. based on a randomized block design with three repetitions. The used treatments included consumption of Cd (NO3)2 at four levels, namely, 0, 100, 200, and 300 ppm. The plants under study were treated for 10 days. The results of the study showed that catalase activity decreased by the increase of cadmium. Moreover, peroxidase activity increased by an increase inthe consumption of cadmium. The analysis of protein level showed that plantlet protein decreased in high cadmium concentrations. The findings also demonstrated that cadmium concentration in roots was higher than in shoots.

Keywords: catalase, heavy metal, peroxidase, protein

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Nadia Hammouda, Kamel Belmokre

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Organic coatings are widely employed in the corrosion protection of most metal surfaces, particularly steel. They provide a barrier against corrosive species present in the environment, due to their high resistance to oxygen, water and ions transport. This study focuses on the evaluation of corrosion protection performance of epoxy paint on the carbon steel surface in sea water by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical behavior of painted surface was estimated by EIS parameters that contained paint film resistance, paint film capacitance and double layer capacitance. On the basis of calculation using EIS spectrums it was observed that pore resistance (Rpore) decreased with the appearance of doubled layer capacitance (Cdl) due to the electrolyte penetration through the film. This was further confirmed by the decrease of diffusion resistance (Rd) which was also the indicator of the deterioration of paint film protectiveness.

Keywords: epoxy paints, carbon steel, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, corrosion mechanisms, seawater

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Authors: Nadia Fatima Zahra Malki

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Quality is one of the most important modern management patterns that organizations seek to achieve in all areas and sectors in order to meet the needs and desires of customers and to remain and continuity, as they constitute a competitive advantage for the organization. and among the most prominent organizations that must be available on the quality factor are health organizations as they relate to the most valuable component of production. It is a person, and his health, and any error in it threatens his life and may lead to death, so she must provide health services of high quality to achieve the highest degree of satisfaction for the patient. This research aims to study the quality of health services and the extent of their impact on patient satisfaction, and this is through an applied study that relied on measuring the level of quality of health services in the university hospital center of Algeria and the extent of their impact on patient satisfaction according to the dimensions of the quality of health services, and we reached a conclusion that the determinants of the quality of health services It affects patient satisfaction, which necessitates developing health services according to patients' requirements and improving their quality to obtain patient satisfaction.

Keywords: health service, health quality, quality determinants, patient satisfaction

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Authors: Pratap Chandra Pati, Prabina Rajib, Parama Barai

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The traditional finance theory neglects the role of sentiment factor in asset pricing. However, the behavioral approach to asset-pricing based on noise trader model and limit to arbitrage includes investor sentiment as a priced risk factor in the assist pricing model. Investor sentiment affects stock more that are vulnerable to speculation, hard to value and risky to arbitrage. It includes small stocks, high volatility stocks, growth stocks, distressed stocks, young stocks and non-dividend-paying stocks. Since the introduction of Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) volatility index (VIX) in 1993, it is used as a measure of future volatility in the stock market and also as a measure of investor sentiment. CBOE VIX index, in particular, is often referred to as the ‘investors’ fear gauge’ by public media and prior literature. The upward spikes in the volatility index are associated with bouts of market turmoil and uncertainty. High levels of the volatility index indicate fear, anxiety and pessimistic expectations of investors about the stock market. On the contrary, low levels of the volatility index reflect confident and optimistic attitude of investors. Based on the above discussions, we investigate whether market-wide fear levels measured volatility index is priced factor in the standard asset pricing model for the Indian stock market. First, we investigate the performance and validity of Fama and French three-factor model and Carhart four-factor model in the Indian stock market. Second, we explore whether India volatility index as a proxy for fearful market-based sentiment indicators affect the cross section of stock returns after controlling for well-established risk factors such as market excess return, size, book-to-market, and momentum. Asset pricing tests are performed using monthly data on CNX 500 index constituent stocks listed on the National stock exchange of India Limited (NSE) over the sample period that extends from January 2008 to March 2017. To examine whether India volatility index, as an indicator of fear sentiment, is a priced risk factor, changes in India VIX is included as an explanatory variable in the Fama-French three-factor model as well as Carhart four-factor model. For the empirical testing, we use three different sets of test portfolios used as the dependent variable in the in asset pricing regressions. The first portfolio set is the 4x4 sorts on the size and B/M ratio. The second portfolio set is the 4x4 sort on the size and sensitivity beta of change in IVIX. The third portfolio set is the 2x3x2 independent triple-sorting on size, B/M and sensitivity beta of change in IVIX. We find evidence that size, value and momentum factors continue to exist in Indian stock market. However, VIX index does not constitute a priced risk factor in the cross-section of returns. The inseparability of volatility and jump risk in the VIX is a possible explanation of the current findings in the study.

Keywords: India VIX, Fama-French model, Carhart four-factor model, asset pricing

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Authors: Budur Almutairi

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Introduction: There is an alarming increase in the number of diabetic patients in Saudi Arabia during the last twenty years. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the country ranks seventh in the world for the rate of diabetes. It is also estimated that around 7 million of the population are diabetic and almost around 3 million have pre-diabetes. The prevalence is more in urban area than in rural and more in women than in men and it is closely associated with the parallel rise in obesity rates. Diabetes is found to be contributing to the increasing mortality, morbidity and vascular complications and becoming a significant cause of medical complications and even death. The trends shown by the numbers are worrying as the prevalence is steadily doubling every two decades and particularly in Saudi Arabia, this could soon reach 50% in those over 50 years of age. The economic growth and prosperity have shown notable changes in the lifestyle of the people. Most importantly, along with an increased consumption of fast foods and sugar-rich carbonated soft drinks, eating habits became less healthy and the level of physical activity is decreased. The simultaneous technological advancement and the introduction of new mechanical devices like, elevators, escalators, remotes and vehicles pushed people to a situation of leading a more sedentary life. This study is attempting to evaluate the success of the campaign that introduced through popular social media in the country. Methodology: The Ministry of Health (MoH) has initiated a novel method of campaign activity to generate discussion among public about diabetes. There were mythical monsters introduced through popular social media with disguised messages about the condition of diabetes has generated widespread discussions about the disease among the general public. The characters that started appearing in social media About 600 retweets of the original post was testimonial for the success of the Twitter campaign. The second most successful form of campaign was a video that adopted a very popular approach of using Dark Comedy in which, the diabetes was represented through a twisted negative character that talks about his meticulous plans of how he is going to take the common people into his clutches. This fictional character gained more popularity when introduced into twitter and people started interacting with him raising various questions and challenging his anti-social activities. Major findings: The video generated more than 3,200,000 views ranking 9th in You Tube’s most popular video in Saudi Arabia and was shared 7000 times in a single week. Also, the hashtag got over 4,500,000impressions and over one million visits. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia is emerging as an epidemic of massive proportions, threatening to negate the benefits of modernization and economic revival. It is highly possible that healthy practices connected with the prevention and management of DM can easily be implemented in a manner that does not conflict with the cultural milieu of Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: campaign, diabetes, Saudi, social media

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Authors: Wichan Lertlop

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This research is to study the solubility of oxygen in water taking the form of aeration pipes that have different shaped objectives of the research to compare the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water, whice take the form of aeration pipes. Shaped differently When aeration 5 minutes on air for 10 minutes, and when air fills 30 minutes, as well as compare the durability of the oxygen is dissolved in the water of the inlet air refueling shaped differently when you fill the air 30 minutes and when. aeration and 60 minutes populations used in this study, the population of pond water from Rajabhat University in February 2014 used in this study consists of 1. Aerator 2. Hose using a hose to fill the air with 3 different shape, different shapes pyramid whose base is on the water tank. Shaped rectangular water tank onto the ground. And shapes in a vertical pipe. 3 meter, dissolved oxygen, dissolved in water to get the calibration standard. 4. The clock for timer 5. Three water tanks which are 39 cm wide, 51 cm long and 32 cm high.

Keywords: aeration, dissolve oxygen, different shapes

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Authors: Brahim Ferdi, Samira Dib

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The unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), a combination of shunt and series active power filter, is one of the best solutions towards the mitigation of voltage and current harmonics problems in distribution power system. PI controller is very common in the control of UPQC. However, one disadvantage of this conventional controller is the difficulty in tuning its gains (Kp and Ki). To overcome this problem, an adaptive fuzzy logic PI controller is proposed. The controller is composed of fuzzy controller and PI controller. According to the error and error rate of the control system and fuzzy control rules, the fuzzy controller can online adjust the two gains of the PI controller to get better performance of UPQC. Simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed controller. The results show that the proposed controller has fast dynamic response and high accuracy of tracking the current and voltage references.

Keywords: adaptive fuzzy PI controller, current harmonics, PI controller, voltage harmonics, UPQC

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Authors: Khodamorad Nabaki, Jianhu Shen, Xiaodong Huang

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This paper develops a method for considering the critical fatigue stress as a constraint in the Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization (BESO) method. Our aim is to reach an optimal design in which high cycle fatigue failure does not occur for a specific life time. The critical fatigue stress is calculated based on modified Goodman criteria and used as a stress constraint in our topology optimization problem. Since fatigue generally does not occur for compressive stresses, we use the p-norm approach of the stress measurement that considers the highest tensile principal stress in each point as stress measure to calculate the sensitivity numbers. The BESO method has been extended to minimize volume an object subjected to the critical fatigue stress constraint. The optimization results are compared with the results from the compliance minimization problem which shows clearly the merits of our newly developed approach.

Keywords: topology optimization, BESO method, p-norm, fatigue constraint

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Authors: Ivan Stanev, Maria Koleva

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Described are challenges to the Bulgarian e-Customs (BeC) related to low level of interoperability and standardization, inefficient use of available infrastructure, lack of centralized identification and authorization, extremely low level of software process automation, and insufficient quality of data stored in official registers. The technical requirements for BeC are prepared with a focus on domain independent common platform, specialized customs and excise components, high scalability, flexibility, and reusability. The Knowledge Based Automated Software Engineering (KBASE) Common Platform for Automated Programming (CPAP) is selected as an instrument covering BeC requirements for standardization, programming automation, knowledge interpretation and cloud computing. BeC stage 3 results are presented and analyzed. BeC.S3 development trends are identified.

Keywords: service oriented architecture, cloud computing, knowledge based automated software engineering, common platform for automated programming, e-customs

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Jehad Al Dallal

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Software engineers apply different measures to quantify the quality of software design. These measures consider artifacts developed at low or high level software design phases. The results are used to point to design weaknesses and to indicate design points that have to be restructured. Understanding the relationship among the quality measures and among the design quality aspects considered by these measures is important to interpreting the impact of a measure for a quality aspect on other potentially related aspects. In addition, exploring the relationship between quality measures helps to explain the impact of different quality measures on external quality aspects, such as reliability and maintainability. In this paper, we report a replication study that empirically explores the correlation between six well known and commonly applied design quality measures. These measures consider several quality aspects, including complexity, cohesion, coupling, and inheritance. The results indicate that inheritance measures are weakly correlated to other measures, whereas complexity, coupling, and cohesion measures are mostly strongly correlated.  

Keywords: quality attribute, quality measure, software design quality, Spearman correlation

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

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

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

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Authors: Shao-Di Feng, Von-Wun Soo

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To generate symbolic music with specific emotions is a challenging task due to symbolic music datasets that have emotion labels are scarce and incomplete. This research aims to generate more refined emotions based on the training datasets that are only labeled with four quadrants in Russel’s 2D emotion model. We focus on the theory of Music Fadernet and map arousal and valence to the low-level attributes, and build a symbolic music generation model by combining transformer and GM-VAE. We adopt an in-attention mechanism for the model and improve it by allowing modulation by conditional information. And we show the music generation model could control the generation of music according to the emotions specified by users in terms of high-level linguistic expression and by manipulating their corresponding low-level musical attributes. Finally, we evaluate the model performance using a pre-trained emotion classifier against a pop piano midi dataset called EMOPIA, and by subjective listening evaluation, we demonstrate that the model could generate music with more refined emotions correctly.

Keywords: music generation, music emotion controlling, deep learning, semi-supervised learning

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Authors: Bassam Istanbouli

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Organizations are living in a very competitive and dynamic environment which is constantly changing. In order to achieve a high level of service, the products and processes of these organizations need to be flexible and evolvable. If the supply chains are not modular and well designed, changes can bring combinatorial effects to most areas of a company from its management, financial, documentation, logistics and its information structure. Applying the normalized system’s concept to segments of the supply chain may help in reducing those ripple effects, but it may also increase lead times. Lead times are important and can become a decisive element in gaining customers. Industries are always under the pressure in providing good quality products, at competitive prices, when and how the customer wants them. Most of the time, the customers want their orders now, if not yesterday. The above concept will be proven by examining lead times in a manufacturing example before and after applying normalized systems concept to that segment of the chain. We will then show that although we can minimize the combinatorial effects when changes occur, the lead times will be increased.

Keywords: supply chain, lead time, normalization, modular

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Authors: G. A. Asciak, C. Camilleri, A. Rizzo

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The waste management in Malta is a national challenge. Coupled with Malta’s recent economic boom, which has seen massive growth in several sectors, especially the construction industry, drastic actions need to be taken. Wood waste, currently being dumped in landfills, is one type of waste which has increased astronomically. This research study aims to carry out a thorough examination on the possibility of using this waste as a biomass resource and adopting a waste-to-energy technology in order to generate electrical energy. This study is composed of three distinct yet interdependent phases, namely, data collection from the local SMEs, thermal analysis using the bomb calorimeter, and generation of energy from wood waste using a micro biomass plant. Data collection from SMEs specializing in wood works was carried out to obtain information regarding the available types of wood waste, the annual weight of imported wood, and to analyse the manner in which wood shavings are used after wood is manufactured. From this analysis, it resulted that five most common types of wood available in Malta which would suitable for generating energy are Oak (hardwood), Beech (hardwood), Red Beech (softwood), African Walnut (softwood) and Iroko (hardwood). Subsequently, based on the information collected, a thermal analysis using a 6200 Isoperibol calorimeter on the five most common types of wood was performed. This analysis was done so as to give a clear indication with regards to the burning potential, which will be valuable when testing the wood in the biomass plant. The experiments carried out in this phase provided a clear indication that the African Walnut generated the highest gross calorific value. This means that this type of wood released the highest amount of heat during the combustion in the calorimeter. This is due to the high presence of extractives and lignin, which accounts for a slightly higher gross calorific value. This is followed by Red Beech and Oak. Moreover, based on the findings of the first phase, both the African Walnut and Red Beech are highly imported in the Maltese Islands for use in various purposes. Oak, which has the third highest gross calorific value is the most imported and common wood used. From the five types of wood, three were chosen for use in the power plant on the basis of their popularity and their heating values. The PP20 biomass plant was used to burn the three types of shavings in order to compare results related to the estimated feedstock consumed by the plant, the high temperatures generated, the time taken by the plant to produce gasification temperatures, and the projected electrical power attributed to each wood type. From the experiments, it emerged that whilst all three types reached the required gasification temperature and thus, are feasible for electrical energy generation. African Walnut was deemed to be the most suitable fast-burning fuel. This is followed by Red-beech and Oak, which required a longer period of time to reach the required gasification temperatures. The results obtained provide a clear indication that wood waste can not only be treated instead of being dumped in dumped in landfill but coupled.

Keywords: biomass, isoperibol calorimeter, waste-to-energy technology, wood

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Authors: E. A. Krasikov

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

Keywords: hydrogen, radiation, stability, structural steel

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Authors: Kitoholi V. Zhimo

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Unlike the cases of cases of homosexuals, haemophilic and or drug users in USA, France, Africa and other countries, in India the first case of HIV/AIDS was detected in heterosexual female sex workers (FSW) in Chennai in 1986. This image played an important role in understanding HIV/AIDS scenario in the country. Similar to popular and dominant metaphors on HIV/AIDS such as ‘gay plague’, ‘new cancer’, ‘lethal disease’, ‘slim disease’, ‘foreign disease’, ‘junkie disease’, etc. around the world, the social construction of the virus was largely attributed to women in India. It was established that women particularly sex workers are ‘carrier’ and ‘transmitter’ of virus and were categorised as High Risk Groups (HRG’s) alongside homosexuals, transgenders and injecting drug users. Recent literature reveals growing rate of HIV infection among housewives since 1997 which revolutionised public health scenario in India. This means shift from high risk group to general public through ‘bridge population’ encompassing long distance truckers and migrant labours who at the expense of their nature of work and mobility comes in contact with HRG’s and transmit the virus to the general public especially women who are confined to the domestic space. As HIV epidemic expands, married women in monogamous relationship/marriage stand highly susceptible to infection with limited control, right and access over their sexual and reproductive health and planning. In context of Nagaland, a small state in North-eastern part of India HIV/AIDS transmission through injecting drug use dominated the early scene of the epidemic. However, paradigm shift occurred with declining trend of HIV prevalence among injecting drug users (IDU’s) over the past years with the introduction of Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) and easy access/availability of syringes and injecting needles. Reflection on statistical data reveals that out of 36 states and union territories in India, the position of Nagaland in HIV prevalence among IDU’s has significantly dropped down from 6th position in 2003 to 16th position in 2017. The present face of virus in Nagaland is defined by (hetero) sexual mode of transmission which accounts for about 91% of as reported by Nagaland state AIDS control society (NSACS) in 2016 wherein young and married woman were found to be most affected leading to feminization of HIV/AIDS epidemic in the state. Thus, not only is HIV epidemic feminised but emerged victim to domestic violence which is more often accepted as normal part of heterosexual relationship. In the backdrop of these understanding, the present paper based on ethnographic fieldwork explores the plight, lived experiences and images of HIV+ve women with regard to sexual and reproductive rights against the backdrop of patriarchal system in Nagaland.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, monogamy, Nagaland, sex worker disease, women

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Authors: Natina Roberts, Hanhee Lee

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The existing and emerging refugee research reports unfavorable resettlement outcomes in multiple domains. The proposed paper highlights trends in refugee research in which empirical studies investigate resettlement of former refugees from individual and culturally homogeneous perspectives. The proposed paper then aims to examine the reality of the lived experience of resettlement from family and cross-cultural viewpoints. Proponents for this focus include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR is responsible for leading resettlement efforts for refugees through the durable solutions of repatriation, local integration and resettlement. Life experiences with refugee families, and a report of literary findings on former refugee resettlement from various cultural backgrounds – that highlight similarities and differences among various ethnic groups, will be discussed. The proposed paper is expected to frame underrepresented refugee perspectives, and review policy implications in healthcare, education, and public support systems.

Keywords: refugee, cross-cultural, families, resettlement policy

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Authors: Sasiphan Nitayaprapha

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A commercially-supported social network has become an emerging channel for an organization to communicate with and provide services to customers. The success of the commercially-supported social network depends on the ability of the organization to keep the customers in participating in the network. Drawing from the theories of information adoption, information systems continuance, and web usability, the author develops a model to explore how a commercially-supported social network can encourage customers to continue participating and using the information in the network. The theoretical model will be proved through an online survey of customers using the commercially-supported social networking sites of several high technology companies operating in the same sector. The result will be compared with previous studies to learn about the explanatory power of the research model, and to identify the main factors determining users’ intention to continue using a commercially-supported social network. Theoretical and practical implications, and limitations are discussed.

Keywords: social network, information adoption, information systems continuance, web usability, user satisfaction

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