Search results for: sustainable design

Authors: Kevin Molina, Daniel Ortega, Manuel Martinez, Andres Gonzalez-Estrada, William Pinto

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Due to the increasing environmental impact, the wind energy is getting strong. This research studied the relationship between the power produced by a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and the aerodynamic profiles used for its construction. The analysis is studied using the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD), presenting the parallel between the energy generated by a turbine designed with selected profiles and another one optimized. For the study, a selection process was carried out from profile NACA 6 digits recommended by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the construction of this type of turbines. The selection was taken into account different characteristics of the wind (speed and density) and the profiles (aerodynamic coefficients Cl and Cd to different Reynolds and incidence angles). From the selected profiles, was carried out a sensitivity analysis optimization process between its geometry and the aerodynamic forces that are induced on it. The 3D model of the turbines was realized using the Blade Element Momentum method (BEM) and both profiles. The flow fields on the turbines were simulated, obtaining the forces induced on the blade, the torques produced and an increase of 3% in power due to the optimized profiles. Therefore, the results show that the sensitivity analysis optimization process can assist to increment the wind turbine power.

Keywords: blade element momentum, blade, fluid structure interaction, horizontal axis wind turbine, profile design

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Authors: Rihab Hamdi, Amel Hadri Hamida, Ouafae Bennis, Sakina Zerouali

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This paper features a performance analysis and robustness assessment of a digitally controlled DC-DC three-cell buck converter associated in parallel, operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM), facing feeding parameters variation and loads disturbance. The control strategy relies on the continuous-time with an averaged modeling technique for high-frequency switching converter. The methodology is to modulate the complete design procedure, in regard to the existence of an instantaneous current operating point for designing the digital closed-loop, to the same continuous-time domain. Moreover, the adopted approach is to include a digital voltage control (DVC) technique, taking an account for digital control delays and sampling effects, which aims at improving efficiency and dynamic response and preventing generally undesired phenomena. The results obtained under load change, input change, and reference change clearly demonstrates an excellent dynamic response of the proposed technique, also as provide stability in any operating conditions, the effectiveness is fast with a smooth tracking of the specified output voltage. Simulations studies in MATLAB/Simulink environment are performed to verify the concept.

Keywords: continuous conduction mode, digital control, parallel multi-cells converter, performance analysis, power electronics

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Authors: R. C. Law, Shirley Kang, T. Y. Hin, M. Z. Abdullah

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LED technology has been evolving aggressively in recent years from incandescent bulb during older days to as small as chip scale package. It will continue to stay bright in future. As such, there is tremendous pressure to stay competitive in the market by optimizing products to next level of performance and reliability with the shortest time to market. This changes the conventional way of product design and development to virtual prototyping by means of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). It comprises of the deployment of Finite Element Method (FEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD). FEM accelerates the investigation for early detection of failures such as crack, improve the thermal performance of system and enhance solder joint reliability. CFD helps to simulate the flow pattern of molding material as a function of different temperature, molding parameters settings to evaluate failures like voids and displacement. This paper will briefly discuss the procedures and applications of FEM in thermal stress, solder joint reliability and CFD of compression molding in LED CSP. Integration of virtual prototyping in product development had greatly reduced the time to market. Many successful achievements with minimized number of evaluation iterations required in the scope of material, process setting, and package architecture variant have been materialized with this approach.

Keywords: LED, chip scale packaging (CSP), computational fluid dynamic (CFD), virtual prototyping

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Authors: Zanele D. Ngwenya, Mustapha Mohammed, Felix D. Dakora

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Legumes are a major source of biological nitrogen, and therefore play a crucial role in maintaining soil productivity in smallholder agriculture in southern Africa. Through their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules, legumes are a better option for sustainable nitrogen supply in cropping systems than chemical fertilisers. For decades, farmers have been highly receptive to the use of rhizobial inoculants as a source of nitrogen due mainly to the availability of elite rhizobial strains at a much lower compared to chemical fertilisers. To improve the efficiency of the legume-rhizobia symbiosis in African soils would require the use of highly effective rhizobia capable of nodulating a wide range of host plants. This study assessed the morphogenetic diversity, photosynthetic functioning and relative symbiotic effectiveness (RSE) of groundnut, jack bean and soybean microsymbionts in Eswatini soils as a first step to identifying superior isolates for inoculant production. According to the manufacturer's instructions, rhizobial isolates were cultured in yeast-mannitol (YM) broth until the late log phase and the bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using GenElute bacterial genomic DNA kit. The extracted DNA was subjected to enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR (ERIC-PCR) and a dendrogram constructed from the band patterns to assess rhizobial diversity. To assess the N2-fixing efficiency of the authenticated rhizobia, photosynthetic rates (A), stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration rates (E) were measured at flowering for plants inoculated with the test isolates. The plants were then harvested for nodulation assessment and measurement of plant growth as shoot biomass. The results of ERIC-PCR fingerprinting revealed the presence of high genetic diversity among the microsymbionts nodulating each of the three test legumes, with many of them showing less than 70% ERIC-PCR relatedness. The dendrogram generated from ERIC-PCR profiles grouped the groundnut isolates into 5 major clusters, while the jack bean and soybean isolates were grouped into 6 and 7 major clusters, respectively. Furthermore, the isolates also elicited variable nodule number per plant, nodule dry matter, shoot biomass and photosynthetic rates in their respective host plants under glasshouse conditions. Of the groundnut isolates tested, 38% recorded high relative symbiotic effectiveness (RSE >80), while 55% of the jack bean isolates and 93% of the soybean isolates recorded high RSE (>80) compared to the commercial Bradyrhizobium strains. About 13%, 27% and 83% of the top N₂-fixing groundnut, jack bean and soybean isolates, respectively, elicited much higher relative symbiotic efficiency (RSE) than the commercial strain, suggesting their potential for use in inoculant production after field testing. There was a tendency for both low and high N₂-fixing isolates to group together in the dendrogram from ERIC-PCR profiles, which suggests that RSE can differ significantly among closely related microsymbionts.

Keywords: genetic diversity, relative symbiotic effectiveness, inoculant, N₂-fixing

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Authors: Vrajesh Rawal

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India's economic landscape has witnessed significant transformations over the past decades, characterized by shifts from agrarian to service-oriented economies. Recently, there has been a growing emphasis on transitioning towards a manufacturing-led growth model driven by factors such as demographic changes, technological advancements, and evolving global trade dynamics. These changes reflect broader efforts to enhance industrialization, boost employment opportunities, and diversify the economic base beyond traditional sectors. Within this context, this research focuses on understanding the specific drivers and dynamics behind India's shift from a predominantly service-based economy to one centered on manufacturing. It seeks to explore how political ideologies influence economic policies and shape sectoral priorities, with a particular focus on contrasting approaches between the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Additionally, the study evaluates the alignment of IMF policy recommendations with India's economic goals and priorities within the theoretical frameworks of neoliberalism and political economy theory. Despite the extensive literature on India's economic reforms and political economy, there remains a gap in understanding how political ideology influences sectoral shifts and economic policy outcomes, particularly in the context of IMF recommendations. Existing studies often focus narrowly on either political ideologies or economic reforms without fully integrating both perspectives. This research aims to bridge this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis that integrates political economy theories with empirical evidence from political speeches, government documents, and IMF reports. Through qualitative content analysis of speeches by political leaders, document analysis of key governmental documents, and scrutiny of party manifestos, this research demonstrates how political ideologies translate into distinct economic strategies and developmental agendas. It highlights the extent to which IMF policy prescriptions align with India's economic objectives and how these interactions shape broader socio-economic outcomes. The theoretical framework of neoliberalism and political economy theory provides a lens to interpret these findings, offering insights into the complex interplay between economic policies, political ideologies, and institutional frameworks in India. The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners involved in economic governance and development planning in India. By understanding the factors driving sectoral shifts and the influence of political ideologies on economic policies, policymakers can make informed decisions to foster sustainable economic growth and development. Implementation of these insights could contribute to refining policy frameworks, enhancing alignment with national development priorities, and optimizing engagement with international financial institutions like the IMF to better meet India's socio-economic challenges and opportunities in the evolving global context.

Keywords: political economy, international politics, social science, policy analysis

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Authors: Nguyen Ngoc Que Tran

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internal market orientation, external market orientation, employee commitment and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: This study collected data through a survey and utilized simple linear regression and multiple regression analysis to determine if there was any support for the research hypotheses as presented in the previous chapter. Findings: Using data from 256 employees of four leading joint stock banks in Vietnam, the empirical results indicates that employee commitment is positively related with external market orientation, job satisfaction is positively related to employee commitment, and employee commitment and job satisfaction are positively related to external market orientation. However, job satisfaction has no significant positive effect on external market orientation. Theoretical contribution: The primary contribution to marketing theory arising from this study is the integration of job satisfaction, employee commitment, and external market orientation in a single research model. Practical implications: The major contribution to practice is an external market oriented bank has to respond rapidly to the future needs and preferences of its customers. This could result in high levels of commitment to the service process and in doing so provide Vietnamese joint-stock commercial banks with a competitive advantage. The finding is important for the banking service sector in general and the Vietnamese banking industry in particular.

Keywords: employee commitment, job satisfaction and external market orientation, vietnam, bank

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Authors: Xingxing Peng

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With the development of society, there are more and more online communication scenarios such as teleconference and online education. In the process of conference communication, the quality of voice communication is a very important part, and noise may cause the communication effect of participants to be greatly reduced. Therefore, voice noise reduction has an important impact on scenarios such as voice calls. This research focuses on the key technologies of the sound transmission process. The purpose is to maintain the audio quality to the maximum so that the listener can hear clearer and smoother sound. Firstly, to solve the problem that the traditional speech enhancement algorithm is not ideal when dealing with non-stationary noise, an adaptive speech noise reduction algorithm is studied in this paper. Traditional noise estimation methods are mainly used to deal with stationary noise. In this chapter, we study the spectral characteristics of different noise types, especially the characteristics of non-stationary Burst noise, and design a noise estimator module to deal with non-stationary noise. Noise features are extracted from non-speech segments, and the noise estimation module is adjusted in real time according to different noise characteristics. This adaptive algorithm can enhance speech according to different noise characteristics, improve the performance of traditional algorithms to deal with non-stationary noise, so as to achieve better enhancement effect. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this chapter is effective and can better adapt to different types of noise, so as to obtain better speech enhancement effect.

Keywords: speech noise reduction, speech enhancement, self-adaptation, Wiener filter algorithm

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Authors: Emely J. Escala, Lolito C. Bestil

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An experiment was conducted to assess the potential of jackfruit by-product concentrate (JBC) in combination with two types of protein sources, soybean meal (SBM) and liquid acid whey (LAW), given at two different ratios as supplement for growing kids fed a basal diet of 70:30 napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) soilage ratio. The experiment was set-up in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with sex-age combination as basis for blocking, with the following dietary treatments: T1 = 0.50:0.50% BW, DM basis, JBC:SBM, T2 = 0.75:0.25% BW JBC:SBM, T3 = 0.50:0.50% BW, DM basis, JBC:LAW, and T4 = 0.75:0.25% BW JBC:LAW. Analysis of JBC showed high contents of crude fiber with medium levels of crude protein and nitrogen-free extract, appearing to be fitting for ruminants and a potential energy source. Results showed significantly higher voluntary dry matter intake (VDMI), cumulative weight gain (CWG), and average daily gain (ADG) of growing goats supplemented with JBC in combination with SBM than with LAW. The amount of JBC can range from 0.50% to 0.75% BW with SBM making up the difference, but a JBC:SBM ratio of 0.75:0.25% BW, DM basis, is best in promoting highest voluntary dry matter intake and is, therefore, highly recommended in the light of savings in feed cost. A long-term study on the effects of JBC supplementation on meat qualities of growing kids (aroma, marbling characteristics and taste) is also recommended.

Keywords: jackfruit by-product concentrate, liquid acid whey, soybean meal, grower kids

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Authors: Mohammad Raihan Mukhlis, M. Abdur Rahman Bhuiyan

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Bangladesh is a developing country in which a lot of multi-span simply/continuous supported flyovers are being constructed in its major cities. Being situated in a seismically active region, seismic safety evaluation of flyovers is essential for seismic risk reduction. Effects of site amplification on seismic safety evaluation of flyover piers are the main concern of this study. In this regard, failure mode, lateral strength and displacement ductility of piers of a typical multi-span simply supported flyover have been evaluated by Japan Road Association (JRA) recommended guidelines, with and without considering site amplification. Ultimate flexural strengths of piers have been computed using the pushover analysis results. Shear capacity of piers has been calculated using the guidelines of JRA. Lateral strengths have been determined depending on the failure modes of the piers. Displacement ductility of piers has been computed using yield and ultimate displacements of the piers obtained from the pushover analysis results. Selected earthquake time history is used in seismic safety evaluation of the flyover piers. Finally, the ductility design method is used to conduct the seismic safety evaluation of the piers with and without considering site amplification. From the numerical results, it has been revealed that the effects of site amplification on seismic safety evaluation of bridge structures should be carefully taken into account.

Keywords: displacement ductility, flyover pier, lateral strength, safety evaluation, site amplification

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Authors: Cosette Maiky

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Seven years have passed since the crisis erupted and the list of challenges to peacebuilding and interreligious dialogue is still growing ever more discouraging: Violence, displacement, sectarianism, discrimination, radicalisation, fragmentation, and collapse of various social and economic infrastructure have notoriously plagued the war-torn country. As the situation in Syria and neighbouring countries is still creating a real concern about the future of the social cohesion and the coexistence in the region, in her function as Field Expert on Arab Countries at King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, the author shall present a systematic review paper that focuses on the radicalization of Islam in Syria. The exercise was based on a series of research questions that guided both the review of literature as well as the interviews. Their relative meaningfulness shall be assessed and trade-offs discussed in each case to ensure that key questions were addressed and to avoid unnecessary effort. There was an element of flexibility, as the assessment progressed, to further provide and inject additional generic questions. The main sources for the information were: Documents and literature with a direct bearing on the issues of relevance collected in all available formats and information collected through key informant interviews. This latter was particularly helpful to understand what some of the capacity constraints are, as well as the gaps, enablers and barriers. Respondents were selected among those who are engaged in IRD activities clearly linked to peacebuilding (i.e. religious leaders, leaders in religious communities, peace actors, religious actors, conflict parties, minority groups, women initiatives, youth initiatives, civil society organizations, academia, etc.), with relevant professional qualifications and work experience. During the research process, the Consultant carefully took account of sensitivities around terminologies as well as a highly insecure and dynamic context. The Consultant (Arabic native speaker), therefore, adapted terminologies while conducting interviews according to the area and respondent. Findings revealed: the deep ideological polarization and lack of trust dividing communities and preventing meaningful dialogue opportunities; the challenge of prioritizing IRD and peacebuilding work in the context of such a severe humanitarian crisis facing the country; the need to engage religious leaders and institutions in peacebuilding processes and initiatives, the need to have institutions with specific IRD mandate, which can have a sustainable influence on peace through various levels of interventions (from grassroots level to policy and research), and lastly, the need to address stigma in media representation of Muslims and Islam. While religion and religious agendas have been massively used for political issues and power play in the Middle East – and elsewhere, more extensive policy and research efforts are needed to highlight the positive role of religion and religious actors in dialogue and peacebuilding processes.

Keywords: radicalisation, Islam, Syria, conflict

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Authors: Sutapa Mondal Roy, Suban K. Sahoo

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The primary aim of this work is to synthesis silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) through environmentally benign routes to avoid any chemical toxicity related undesired side effects. The nanoparticles were stabilized with drug ciprofloxacin (Cp) and were studied for their effectiveness as drug delivery agent. Targeted drug delivery improves the therapeutic potential of drugs at the diseased site as well as lowers the overall dose and undesired side effects. The small size of nanoparticles greatly facilitates the transport of active agents (drugs) across biological membranes and allows them to pass through the smallest capillaries in the body that are 5-6 μm in diameter, and can minimize possible undesired side effects. AgNPs are non-toxic, inert, stable, and has a high binding capacity and thus can be considered as biomaterials. AgNPs were synthesized from the nutrient broth supernatant after the culture of environment-friendly bacteria Bacillus subtilis. The AgNPs were found to show the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 425 nm. The Cp capped Ag nanoparticles formation was complete within 30 minutes, which was confirmed from absorbance spectroscopy. Physico-chemical nature of the AgNPs-Cp system was confirmed by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) etc. The AgNPs-Cp system size was found to be in the range of 30-40 nm. To monitor the kinetics of drug release from the surface of nanoparticles, the release of Cp was carried out by careful dialysis keeping AgNPs-Cp system inside the dialysis bag at pH 7.4 over time. The drug release was almost complete after 30 hrs. During the drug delivery process, to understand the AgNPs-Cp system in a better way, the sincere theoretical investigation is been performed employing Density Functional Theory. Electronic charge transfer, electron density, binding energy as well as thermodynamic properties like enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy etc. has been predicted. The electronic and thermodynamic properties, governed by the AgNPs-Cp interactions, indicate that the formation of AgNPs-Cp system is exothermic i.e. thermodynamically favorable process. The binding energy and charge transfer analysis implies the optimum stability of the AgNPs-Cp system. Thus, the synthesized Cp-Ag nanoparticles can be effectively used for biological purposes due to its environmentally benign routes of synthesis procedures, which is clean, biocompatible, non-toxic, safe, cost-effective, sustainable and eco-friendly. The Cp-AgNPs as biomaterials can be successfully used for drug delivery procedures due to slow release of drug from nanoparticles over a considerable period of time. The kinetics of the drug release show that this drug-nanoparticle assembly can be effectively used as potential tools for therapeutic applications. The ease of synthetic procedure, lack of possible chemical toxicity and their biological activity along with excellent application as drug delivery agent will open up vista of using nanoparticles as effective and successful drug delivery agent to be used in modern days.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, ciprofloxacin, density functional theory, drug delivery

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Authors: O. Casasayas, M. Vigo, R. Navarro, P. Ragazzi, P. Alvarez, A. Perez-Bellmunt

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Introduction: The blood flow restriction training (BFR) is a method of muscle training that allows increasing the stress of muscle tissue to enhance the muscle cross-section and strength. This type of training has clear benefits in the rehabilitation field since it can improve muscle strength using low mechanical loads. The aim of this study is to know in which knee pathologies BFR has been used, what methodology was used and what were the obtained results. Study design: We performed a systematic literature search using strategies for the concepts of “blood flow restriction OR blood flow restriction training AND knee” in Medline. Articles were screened by authors and included if they used the blood flow restriction training in pathology of the knee. Results: The pathology more frequently treated by BFR was knee osteoarthritis and the variables most analyzed were strength and pain. The vascular occlusion used was 80% in the major part of studies. The groups of BFR obtained an increase of strength with less pain but not always the results are statistically significant. The evidence levels are poor in the high number of studies because in some cases there is not a control group or the evaluators were not blinded. Conclusion: The use of BFR is useful to improve muscle strength in knee pathology since it does not increase the pain, but more studies are needed to see (comprehend) if this type of treatment obtains better results than a conventional therapy. No studies have been found that compare the different occlusion effects in both the strength improvement and the pain reduction. Neither studies that analyse the effects of BFR on the muscle contractile parameters have been found.

Keywords: blood flow restriction training, knee, arthroscopy knee, physical therapy

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Authors: Gregory Kelly, Gary Chai, Sittampalam Manoharan, Deborah Delaney

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A Structural Number (SN) can be calculated for a road pavement from the properties and thicknesses of the surface, base course, sub-base, and subgrade. Historically, the cost of collecting structural data has been very high. Data were initially collected using Benkelman Beams and now by Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). The structural strength of pavements weakens over time due to environmental and traffic loading factors, but due to a lack of data, no structural deterioration curve for pavements has been implemented in a Pavement Management System (PMS). International Roughness Index (IRI) is a measure of the road longitudinal profile and has been used as a proxy for a pavement’s structural integrity. This paper offers two conceptual methods to develop Pavement Structural Deterioration Curves (PSDC). Firstly, structural data are grouped in sets by design Equivalent Standard Axles (ESA). An ‘Initial’ SN (ISN), Intermediate SN’s (SNI) and a Terminal SN (TSN), are used to develop the curves. Using FWD data, the ISN is the SN after the pavement is rehabilitated (Financial Accounting ‘Modern Equivalent’). Intermediate SNIs, are SNs other than the ISN and TSN. The TSN was defined as the SN of the pavement when it was approved for pavement rehabilitation. The second method is to use Traffic Speed Deflectometer data (TSD). The road network already divided into road blocks, is grouped by traffic loading. For each traffic loading group, road blocks that have had a recent pavement rehabilitation, are used to calculate the ISN and those planned for pavement rehabilitation to calculate the TSN. The remaining SNs are used to complete the age-based or if available, historical traffic loading-based SNI’s.

Keywords: conceptual, pavement structural number, pavement structural deterioration curve, pavement management system

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Authors: Andrew Enaifoghe

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Municipalities are the most fundamental units of governance, and they are responsible for providing basic services and supporting growth in the areas they rule. South African local government is primarily understood in terms of service delivery, and the South African constitution provides municipalities with the responsibility of mobilizing economic resources, to better the lives of all people. Essential public services are the primary pillars of enhanced quality of life, and appropriate supplies of safe water and sanitation are required for life, well-being, and human dignity. Therefore, having access to basic services is directly tied to social inclusion and social capital, and towns' inability to offer services can have a negative influence on social and economic growth. The problem of service delivery is seen as one of the biggest challenges facing South African municipalities today. This study attempts to assess South African municipal service delivery. Focusing on the main causes of service delivery challenges, the study also looks at the impact of these challenges to identify ways to minimize such challenges by introducing legal instruments such as municipal budgeting and annual reports. A qualitative design was adopted, and data were collected using a desktop technique and analyzed based on content. While public engagement in municipal affairs is required by law, considerable work has to be done to ensure successful participation. Finally, municipalities were deemed to need to do more to improve human capacity to offer services.

Keywords: municipalities, service delivery, corruption, monitoring, South Africa

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Authors: Gina L. Solano

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This project endeavors to enhance learning experiences for undergraduate pre-service teachers and graduate K-12 educators by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). Firstly, the initiative delves into integrating AI within undergraduate education courses, fostering traditional literacy skills essential for academic success and extending their applicability beyond the classroom. Education students will explore AI tools to design literacy-focused activities aligned with their curriculum. Secondly, the project investigates the utilization of AI to craft instructional materials employing gamification strategies (e.g., digital and classic games, badges, quests) to amplify student engagement and motivation in mastering course content. Lastly, it aims to create a professional repertoire that can be applied by pre-service and current teachers in P-12 classrooms, promoting seamless integration for those already in teaching positions. The project's impact extends to benefiting college students, including pre-service and graduate teachers, as they enhance literacy and digital skills through AI. It also benefits current P-12 educators who can integrate AI into their classrooms, fostering innovative teaching practices. Moreover, the project contributes to faculty development, allowing them to cultivate low-risk and engaging classroom environments, ultimately enriching the learning journey. The insights gained from this project can be shared within and beyond the discipline to advance the broader field of study.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, gamification, learning experiences, literacy skills, engagement

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Authors: A. Sivakumar, S. S. Darun Prakash, P. Navaneethakrishnan

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In and around Erode District, it is estimated that more than 1250 chemical and allied textile processing fabric industries are affected, partially closed and shut off for various reasons such as poor management, poor supplier performance, lack of planning for productivity, fluctuation of output, poor investment, waste analysis, labor problems, capital/labor ratio, accumulation of stocks, poor maintenance of resources, deficiencies in the quality of fabric, low capacity utilization, age of plant and equipment, high investment and input but low throughput, poor research and development, lack of energy, workers’ fear of loss of jobs, work force mix and work ethic. The main objective of this work is to analyze the existing conditions in textile fabric sector, validate the break even of Total Productivity (TP), analyze, design and implement fuzzy sets and mathematical programming for improvement of productivity and quality dimensions in the fabric processing industry. It needs to be compatible with the reality of textile and fabric processing industries. The highly risk events from productivity and quality dimension were found by fuzzy systems and results are wrapped up among the textile fabric processing industry.

Keywords: break even point, fuzzy crisp data, fuzzy sets, productivity, productivity cycle, total productive maintenance

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Authors: Chaitanya R. Mali, V. Vinod, Ashwin W. Patwardhan

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Design of long vertical steam generator (SG) tubes in nuclear power plant involves an understanding of different aspects of flow boiling phenomenon such as flow instabilities, flow regimes, dry out, critical heat flux, pressure drop, etc. The knowledge of the prediction of local thermal hydraulic characteristics is necessary to understand these aspects. For this purpose, the methodology has been developed which covers all the flow boiling regimes to model full range flow boiling phenomenon. In this methodology, the vertical tube is divided into four sections based on vapor fraction value at the end of each section. Different modeling strategies have been applied to the different sections of the vertical tube. Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been performed on a vertical SG tube of 0.0126 m inner diameter and 23 m length. The thermal hydraulic parameters such as vapor fraction, liquid temperature, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, heat flux distribution have been analyzed for different designed heat duties (1.1 MW (20%) to 3.3 MW (60%)) and flow conditions (10 % to 80 %). The sensitivity of different boiling parameters such as bubble departure diameter, nucleation site density, bubble departure frequency on the thermal hydraulic parameters was also studied. Flow instability has been observed at 20 % designed heat duty and 20 % flow conditions.

Keywords: thermal hydraulics, boiling, vapor fraction, sensitivity

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Authors: Yveta Pohnětalová, Veronika Nováková, Lucie Hrašová

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The paper presents the results of research in which we were looking for common characteristics of the family environment of students alternative and innovative education systems. Topicality comes from the fact that nowadays in the Czech Republic there are several civic and parental initiatives held with the aim to establish schools for their children. The goal of our research was to reveal key aspects of these families and to identify their common indicators. Among other things, we were interested what reasons lead parents to decide to enroll their child into different education than standard (common). The survey was qualitative and there were eighteen respondents of parents of alternative schools´ pupils. The reason to implement qualitative design was the opportunity to gain deeper insight into the essence of phenomena and to obtain detailed information, which would become the basis for subsequent quantitative research. There have been semi structured interviews done with the respondents which had been recorded and transcribed. By an analysis of gained data (categorization and by coding), we found out that common indicator of our respondents is higher education and higher economic level. This issue should be at the forefront of the researches because there is lack of analysis which would provide a comparison of common and alternative schools in the Czech Republic especially with regard to quality of education. Based on results, we consider questions whether approaches of these parents towards standard education come from their own experience or from the lack of knowledge of current goals and objectives of education policy of the Czech Republic.

Keywords: alternative schools, family environment, quality of education, parents´ approach

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Authors: Mohamed Mahmoud Hasan, Hoda M. O. Mokhtar

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With the gigantic increment in portable applications use and the spread of positioning and location-aware technologies that we are seeing today, new procedures and methodologies for location-based strategies are required. Location recommendation is one of the highly demanded location-aware applications uniquely with the wide accessibility of social network applications that are location-aware including Facebook check-ins, Foursquare, and others. In this paper, we aim to present a new methodology for location recommendation. The proposed approach coordinates customary spatial traits alongside other essential components including shortest distance, and user interests. We also present another idea namely, "activity trajectory" that represents trajectory that fulfills the set of activities that the user is intrigued to do. The approach dispatched acquaints the related distance value to select trajectory(ies) with minimum cost value (distance) and spatial-area to prune unneeded directions. The proposed calculation utilizes the idea of movement direction to prescribe most comparable N-trajectory(ies) that matches the client's required action design with least voyaging separation. To upgrade the execution of the proposed approach, parallel handling is applied through the employment of a MapReduce based approach. Experiments taking into account genuine information sets were built up and tested for assessing the proposed approach. The exhibited tests indicate how the proposed approach beets different strategies giving better precision and run time.

Keywords: location based recommendation, map-reduce, recommendation system, trajectory search

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Authors: Rishabh Pandey, Umang Kumar Yadav

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In today’s era of technological advancement, we come across incalculable innovations, almost every day. No doubt that the society has developed a lot in learning and technology, but we should also take into account the problems and inflictions that are occurring. Focusing on the petroleum sector a trending global concern is toward lowering fuel consumption and emissions. It is well known that gasoline is non-renewable source of energy and its burning produces harmful emissions which are adversely affecting the environment, such issues are motivating us to seek alternative solutions that would not require much modification in engine design and help us come out with an outcome. Keeping in mind the importance of environment and human race, we present a factious idea of use of oxyhydrogen gas or HHO gas in place of gasoline in the vehicles and petroleum industry. This technology is prospering, highly efficient, could be used economically and safe, and it will be responsible for changing the future of oil and gas sector in accordance with protection to the environment. In the coming future, we will check the compatibility of HHO generator with fuel engine for production of oxyhydrogen gas with use of water and effect of introducing HHO gas to the combustion on both thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption. We will also work on the comparison of HHO gas and commercially available gasoline fuel in support of their chemical structures; ignition rate; octane rating; knocking properties; storage; transportation and cost effectiveness and it is trusted that use of HHO gas will be ecofriendly as no harmful emissions are produced, rather the only emission is water. Additionally, this paper will include the use of HHO cell in fuel engines and challenges faced in installing it in the current period and provide effective solutions for the same.

Keywords: fuel, gas, generator, water

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Authors: Justice Dadzie, Stacy H. Surman, Ruth K. Annan-Brew, Ifesinachi J. Ezugwu, Evans Addison

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This study aimed to explore the correlation between students' performance in educational statistics and research methods in education, as well as investigate potential differences in performance based on their undergraduate programs. A cross-sectional design was employed, and data was collected from 170 students enrolled in master of philosophy programs in the department of education and psychology. The correlation analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between students' performance in intermediate statistics in education and research methods in education. This indicates a close relationship between the two domains. The MANOVA analysis showed no significant differences in the linear combination of intermediate statistics in education and research methods in education scores across the different undergraduate programs. The tests of between-subjects effects further confirmed that the student's performance in intermediate statistics in education and research methods in education did not differ significantly across the different undergraduate programs. These findings contribute to the existing literature by providing insights into the correlation between educational statistics and research methods, and the influence of undergraduate program backgrounds on students' performance in these domains. The strong positive correlation between intermediate statistics and research methods highlights the importance of a solid foundation in statistics for understanding and applying research methods. Moreover, the consistent relationship across different academic backgrounds emphasizes the need for targeted interventions and support systems to enhance graduate students' competencies in these critical areas.

Keywords: educational statistics, research methods, undergraduate programs, students performance

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Authors: Emily Toon

Abstract:

Nurses play a critical role in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia through the maintenance of endotracheal tubes and use of subglottic secretion drainage via subglottic suctioning endotracheal tubes. The purpose of this evidence based practice project is to develop a staff education program on subglottic suctioning endotracheal tubes for critical care nurses at Middlesex Health with the aim of determining and documenting increased knowledge and/or practice change. The setting included registered nurses within Middlesex Health’s critical care unit who were recruited to complete a pre-test (n=14), view a presentation, and complete a post-test (n=10). Average pre-test scores were compared to average post-test scores to determine an increase in knowledge and/or practice change. The overall mean pre-test score was 59.7 percent, compared with the mean post-test score of 88.1 percent. Pre- and post-test scores were unmatched, so statistical significance could not be determined. The hypothesis that a staff education program on subglottic suctioning endotracheal tubes would demonstrate an increase in knowledge was supported, but not statistically. By integrating a pre-test/post-test design into educational presentations to evaluate increased knowledge, data generated may be used to improve methods and practices of delivering education and enhance staff learning.

Keywords: endotracheal tubes, staff education, subglottic secretion drainage, ventilator-associated pneumonia

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Feng Shih-Jen, Chiang Yi-Hua, Yang Min-Chih

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After going through mass production and contract manufacturing phases, under the global consumption trend, Taiwan’s traditional industry has turned to creative design, research and development to gain recognition in the consumer market, build competitiveness in the global market and further promote the products from Taiwan’s traditional industry. Taichung City is rich in cultural creative resources, outperforming other counties/cities in originality, creative talents, cultural taste, art/culture participation and global marketing. As the result this has created a diversified and vibrant cultural market in Taichung, giving Taichung the highest potential as a cultural creative city. This research, through the project by Taichung Cultural Creative Industry Promotion Office, has built an exchange platform for the cultural creative industry in central Taiwan. The platform will promote exchanges of creative ideas in the cultural creative industry in Taiwan as well as industrial transformation and brings more value for the industry. This study also proposes the idea of “Taichung Cultural Creative Exhibition” Therefore, this study was conducted in Taiwan, Taichung 10 Creative Zone Exhibition, which is divided into four stages counseling. Respectively, of the first order: the cultural creative Zone specialty shops offer; The second stage is the industrial settlement discussions and counseling workshops in the ground; The third stage of consultation for the recruitment of the cultural creative businesses separate estate; The fourth stage is the story of the build cultural and creative industry. Hope through periodic counseling, handling Taichung 10 Creative Zone Exhibition.

Keywords: cultural creative industry, counseling, Taichung, Taiwan's creative zones

Procedia PDF Downloads 500

Authors: Domenico Carmelo Mongelli

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The context of this research is that of the Italian reality, which, in order to adapt to the EU Directives that prohibit the production of internal combustion engines in favor of electric mobility from 2035, is extremely concerned about the significant loss of jobs resulting from the difficulty of the automotive industry in converting in such a short time and due to the reticence of potential buyers in the face of such an epochal change. The aim of the research is to evaluate for Italy the potential of the most valid alternative to this transition to electric: leaving the current production of diesel engines unchanged, no longer powered by gasoil, imported and responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, but powered entirely by a nationally produced and eco-sustainable fuel such as biodiesel. Today in Italy, the percentage of biodiesel mixed with gasoil for diesel engines is too low (around 10%); for this reason, this research aims to evaluate the functioning of current diesel engines powered 100% by biodiesel and the ability of the Italian production system to cope to this hypothesis. The research geographically identifies those abandoned lands in Italy, now out of the food market, which is best suited to an energy crop for the final production of biodiesel. The cultivation of oilseeds is identified, which for the Italian agro-industrial reality allows maximizing the agricultural and industrial yields of the transformation of the agricultural product into a final energy product and minimizing the production costs of the entire agro-industrial chain. To achieve this objective, specific databases are used, and energy and economic balances are prepared for the different agricultural product alternatives. Solutions are proposed and tested that allow the optimization of all production phases in both the agronomic and industrial phases. The biodiesel obtained from the most feasible of the alternatives examined is analyzed, and its compatibility with current diesel engines is identified, and from the evaluation of its thermo-fluid-dynamic properties, the engineering measures that allow the perfect functioning of current internal combustion engines are examined. The results deriving from experimental tests on the engine bench are evaluated to evaluate the performance of different engines fueled with biodiesel alone in terms of power, torque, specific consumption and useful thermal efficiency and compared with the performance of engines fueled with the current mixture of fuel on the market. The results deriving from experimental tests on the engine bench are evaluated to evaluate the polluting emissions of engines powered only by biodiesel and compared with current emissions. At this point, we proceed with the simulation of the total replacement of gasoil with biodiesel as a fuel for the current fleet of diesel vehicles in Italy, drawing the necessary conclusions in technological, energy, economic, and environmental terms and in terms of social and employment implications. The results allow us to evaluate the potential advantage of a total replacement of diesel fuel with biodiesel for powering road vehicles with diesel cycle internal combustion engines without significant changes to the current vehicle fleet and without requiring future changes to the automotive industry.

Keywords: biodiesel, economy, engines, environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Ehsan Asgari, Meisam Afazeli, Nezhla Attarchian

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Post-earthquake fire is considered as a major threat in seismic areas. After an earthquake, fire is possible in structures. In this research, the effect of post-earthquake fire on steel moment frames with and without fireproofing coating is investigated. For this purpose, finite element method is employed. For the verification of finite element results, the results of an experimental study carried out by previous researchers are used, and the predicted FE results are compared with the test results, and good agreement is observed. After ensuring the accuracy of the predictions of finite element models, the effect of post-earthquake fire on the frames is investigated taking into account the parameters including the presence or absence of fire protection, frame design assumptions, earthquake type and different fire scenario. Ordinary fire and post-earthquake fire effect on the frames is also studied. The plastic hinges induced by earthquake in the structure are determined in the beam to the column connection and in panel zone. These areas should be accurately considered when providing fireproofing coatings. The results of the study show that the occurrence of fire beside corner columns is the most damaging scenario that results in progressive collapse of structure. It was also concluded that the behavior of structure in fire after a strong ground motion is significantly different from that in a normal fire.

Keywords: post earthquake fire, moment frame, finite element simulation, coupled temperature-displacement analysis, fire scenario

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Stella Y. Erinosho

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In an attempt to impact on girls’ interest in science, an instructional package on ‘Learn Science by Doing (LSD)’ was developed to support science teachers in teaching integrated science at the junior secondary level in Nigeria. LSD provides an instructional framework aimed at actively engaging girls in beginners’ science through activities that are discovery-oriented and allow for experiential learning. The goal of this study was to show the impact of application of LSD on girls’ performance and interest in science. The major hypothesis that was tested in the study was that students would exhibit higher learning outcomes (achievement and attitude) in science as effect of exposure to LSD instructional package. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, incorporating four all-girls schools. Three of the schools (comprising six classes) were randomly designated as experimental and one as the control. The sample comprised 357 girls (275 experimental and 82 control) and nine science teachers drawn from the experimental schools. The questionnaire was designed to gather data on students’ background characteristics and their attitude toward science while the cognitive outcomes were measured using tests, both within a group and between groups, the girls who had exposure to LSD exhibited improved cognitive outcomes and more positive attitude towards science compared with those who had conventional teaching. The data are consistent with previous studies indicating that interactive learning activities increase student performance and interest.

Keywords: active learning, school science, teaching and learning, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: M. G. N. A. S. Fernando

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This study uses a researchable framework to improve the quality of ICT education and the Teaching Learning Assessment/ Evaluation (TLA/TLE) process. It utilizes existing resources while improving the methodologies along with pedagogical techniques and e-Learning approaches used in the secondary schools of Sri Lanka. The study was carried out in two phases. Phase I focused on investigating the factors which affect the quality of ICT education. Based on the key factors of phase I, the Phase II focused on the design of an Experimental Application Model with 6 activity levels. Each Level in the Activity Model covers one or more levels in the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Towards further enhancement of activity levels, other pedagogical techniques (activity based learning, e-learning techniques, problem solving activities and peer discussions etc.) were incorporated to each level in the activity model as appropriate. The application model was validated by a panel of teachers including a domain expert and was tested in the school environment too. The validity of performance was proved using 6 hypotheses testing and other methodologies. The analysis shows that student performance with problem solving activities increased by 19.5% due to the different treatment levels used. Compared to existing process it was also proved that the embedded techniques (mixture of traditional and modern pedagogical methods and their applications) are more effective with skills development of teachers and students.

Keywords: activity models, Bloom’s taxonomy, ICT education, pedagogies

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Juan Torralba

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Student digital artifacts were investigated, utilizing a qualitative exploratory research design to understand the ways in which students represented their knowledge of seventh-grade proportionality concepts as they participated in maker-based activities that culminated in the creation of digital 3-dimensional models of their dream homes. Representations of the geometric and numeric dimensions of proportionality were analyzed in the written, verbal, and visual data collected from the students. A directed content analysis approach was utilized in the data analysis, as this work aimed to build upon existing research in the field of maker-based STEAM Education. The results from this work show that students can represent their understanding of proportional reasoning through open-ended written responses more accurately than through verbal descriptions or digital artifacts. The geometric and numeric dimensions of proportionality and their respective components of attributes of similarity representation and percents, rates, and ratios representations were the most represented by the students than any other across the data, suggesting a maker-based instructional approach to teaching proportionality in the middle grades may be promising in helping students gain a solid foundation in those components. Recommendations for practice and research are discussed.

Keywords: learning through making, maker-based education, maker education in the middle grades, making in mathematics, the maker movement

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Ranjith Kumar Kankala, Wei-Zhi Lin, Chia-Hung Lee

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Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has become an emergency situation clinically. To improve the efficacy of antibiotics in resistant strains, advancement of nanoparticles is inevitable than ever. Herewith, we demonstrate a design by immobilizing tetracycline (TET) in copper substituted mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Cu-MSNs) through a pH-sensitive coordination link, enabling its release in the acidic environment. Subsequently, MSNs are coated with silver nanoparticles stabilized polyethyleneimine (PEI-SNP) to act against drug-resistant (MDR) bacterial strains. Silver ions released from SNP are capable of sensitizing the resistant strains and facilitate the generation of free radicals capable of damaging the cell components. In addition, copper ions in the framework are also capable of generating free radicals through Fenton-like reaction. Furthermore, the nanoparticles are well-characterized physically, and various antibacterial efficacious tests against isolated multidrug resistant bacterial strain were highly commendable. However, this formulation has no significant toxic effect on normal mammalian fibroblast cells accounting its high biocompatibility. These MSN trio-hybrids, i.e., SNP, tetracycline, and copper ions result in synergistic effects, and their advancement could bypass resistance and allow synergism for effective treatment of antibiotic clinically.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, copper, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, Ph-sensitive release, polyethyleneimine, silver, tetracycline

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Nikita Bharadia, Vikas Gupta, Sushant Koshy

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Mobile phone applications (“apps”) have generated substantial interest among marketers and researchers because of the developments in the smartphone technology and the availability of affordable phones to a large number of consumers. Apps are enabling brands to engage with consumers at any time and any place. This study utilizes a pre-test/post-test experimental design to determine if apps can have a persuasive impact on the consumer attitude towards the brand and her purchase intention. The study also tests the impact of informational vs. interactive style of apps on categories with high and low level of involvement. The results show that for high involvement brands, consumers have a predetermined brand image and apps that satisfy consumer needs through an interactive interface can increase purchase intention. For low involvement brands, while informational apps do not create substantial engagement, interactive apps can increase consumer focus on the brand and establish personal connect with the consumers. This has a positive impact in the attitude towards the brand. These results suggest that understanding how to maximize the consumer interaction with mobile phone apps will be a key topic of future research. This research indicates that managers need to evaluate the how apps can solve consumer needs before investing resources towards digital marketing campaign for their brands, following the global trend to capitalize on the digital platforms.

Keywords: App execution style, high and low involvement categories, mobile marketing, smartphone applications

Procedia PDF Downloads 402