Search results for: food frequency and biomedical data

Authors: Temitope Adefunsho Olatoye, Julius Olabode Elega

Abstract:

Raising agricultural productivity is an important policy goal for governments and development agencies, and this is central to growth, income distribution, improved food security, and poverty alleviation among practitioners. This study analyzed the productivity and poverty status among users of improved sorghum varieties in Kano State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 131 sorghum farmers who were users of improved sorghum varieties. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive (frequency distribution and percentage) and inferential (productivity index and FGT model) statistics. The result of the socioeconomic characteristics of the sorghum farmers showed a mean age of 40 years, with about 93.13% of the sorghum farmers being male. Also, as indicated by the result, the majority (82.44%) of the farmers were married, with most of them having qur’anic education with a mean farm size of 3.6 ha, as reported in the study area. Furthermore, the result showed that the mean farming experience of the sorghum farmers in the study area was 19 years, with an average monthly income of about ₦48,794, as reported in the study area. The result of the productivity index showed a ratio of 192,977kg/ha, while the result of poverty status shows that 62.88% were in the non-poor category, 21.21% were poor, and 15.91% were very poor, respectively. The result also showed that the incidence of poverty for sorghum farmers was 16%, indicating that the incidence of poverty was prevalent in the study area. Based on the findings of this study, it was therefore recommended that seed companies should facilitate the spread of improved sorghum varieties as it has an impact on the productivity and poverty status of sorghum farmers in the study area.

Keywords: Foster Greer Thorbecke model, improved sorghum varieties, productivity, poverty status

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Mohammadreza Judaki, Hosein Mohammadnezhad Shourkaei

Abstract:

Usually, noise generated by industrial units, is a pollution and disturbs people and causes problems for human health and sometimes these units will be closed because they cannot eliminate this pollution. Small-scale power plants usually are built close to residential areas, and noise generated by these power plants is an important factor in choosing their location and their design. Materials used to reduce noise are studied by measuring their absorption and reflection index numerically and experimentally. We can use MIKI model (Yasushi Miki, 1990) to simulate absorption index by using software like Ansys or Soundflow and compare calculation results with experimental simulation data. We consider high frequency sounds of power plant engines octave band diagram because dB value of high frequency noise is more noticeable for human ears. To prove this, in this study we first will study calculating octave band of engines exhausts and then we will study acoustic behavior of materials that we will use in high frequencies and this will give us our optimum noise reduction plan.

Keywords: acoustic materials, eliminating engine noise, octave level diagram, power plant noise

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Mohamed Elassaly

Abstract:

The damage status of RC buildings is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the imposed ground motion. Peak Ground Acceleration and frequency contents are considered the main two factors that affect ground motion characteristics; hence, affecting the seismic response of RC structures and consequently their damage state. A detailed investigation on the combined effects of these two factors on damage assessment of RC buildings, is carried out. Twenty one earthquake records are analyzed and arranged into three groups, according to their frequency contents. These records are used in an investigation to define the expected damage state that would be attained by RC buildings, if subjected to varying ground motion characteristics. The damage assessment is conducted through examining drift ratios and damage indices of the overall structure and the significant structural components of RC building. Base and story shear of RC building model, are also investigated, for cases when the model is subjected to the chosen twenty one earthquake records. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed on a 2-dimensional model of a 12-story R.C. building.

Keywords: damage, frequency content, ground motion, PGA, RC building, seismic

Procedia PDF Downloads 399

Authors: Signe Voltelen, Kristin Astrup Aas

Abstract:

In the Scandinavian cities, there is a raised focus on the potential of using urban agriculture in city development, both as a tool for handling challenges provoked by climate change and to develop new, and stronger social communities. During the last couple of years, Copenhagen has experienced an increase in extreme weather resulting in dramatical floods with huge humanitarian and economic consequences. As an approach for climate adaption and mitigation the government has made a strategy for changing a significant amount of the cities hard surfaces into green and absorbing surfaces. Including urban farms and gardens. In close collaboration with the municipality, it has been possible to implement citizen-run gardens under the different concepts climate adaption and food literacy. Like other European cities, Copenhagen has a historical tradition of small-scale farming for food security inside the city, and in the outskirts of the urban area. Lately, this tradition has gotten new relevance, and new initiatives are popping up. In addition to providing local food, the urban farm becomes a semi-public, semi-private room that invites to community and integration across ethnicity, social background, and age. The direct interaction in the process of farming creates a connection between the urban and the rural and are educational for people growing up and living their whole life in the dense city. In the paper, three local example models of urban agriculture are presented, and the experiences of their potential as tools for developing social and environmental sustainable cities is examined.

Keywords: city development, climate mitigation, community building, urban agriculture, urban- rural transition, food security

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Royan Dawud Aldian, Endah Purwanti, Soegianto Soelistiono

Abstract:

In this research we have been developed an automatic investigation to classify normal children voice or autistic by using modern computation technology that is computation based on artificial neural network. The superiority of this computation technology is its capability on processing and saving data. In this research, digital voice features are gotten from the coefficient of linear-predictive coding with auto-correlation method and have been transformed in frequency domain using fast fourier transform, which used as input of artificial neural network in back-propagation method so that will make the difference between normal children and autistic automatically. The result of back-propagation method shows that successful classification capability for normal children voice experiment data is 100% whereas, for autistic children voice experiment data is 100%. The success rate using back-propagation classification system for the entire test data is 100%.

Keywords: autism, artificial neural network, backpropagation, linier predictive coding, fast fourier transform

Procedia PDF Downloads 456

Authors: Chaimaan Benhsinat, Amal Tazi, Mohammed Azzi

Abstract:

Synthetic azo-dyes are widely used in food industry, they product intense coloration, high toxicity and mutagenicity for wastewater; Causing serious damage to aquatic biota and risk factors for humans. The treatment of these effluents remains a major challenge especially for third world countries that have not yet all possibilities to integrate the concept of sustainable development. These aqueous effluents require specific treatment to preserve natural environments. For these reasons and in order to contribute to the fight against this danger, we were interested in this study to the degradation of the dye Ponceau Red E124 'C20H11N2Na3O10S3' 'used in a food industry Casablanca-Morocco, by the super iron ferrate (VI) K3FexMnyO8; Synthesized in our laboratory and known for its high oxidizing and flocculants. The degradation of Ponceau red is evaluated with the objectives of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) and discoloration reductions. The results are very satisfying. In fact, we achieved 90% reduction of COD and 99% of discoloration. The recovered floc are subject to various techniques for spectroscopic analysis (UV-visible and IR) to identify by-products formed after the degradation. Moreover, the results will then be compared with those obtained by the application of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4, 7H2O) used by the food industry for the degradation of P4R. The results will be later compared with those obtained by the application of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4, 7H2O) used by the food industry, in the degradation of the P4R.

Keywords: COD removal, color removal, dye ponceau 4R, oxydation by ferrate (VI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Katiya Yassim, Venkatesha Prasad

Abstract:

Input-intensive production systems characterise industrial agriculture as an unsustainable means to address food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. There is extensive empirical evidence that supports the diversification and reorientation of industrial agriculture and that incorporates ecological practices viewed as essential for achieving balanced and productive farming systems. An agroecological farming system is a viable alternative approach that can improve food production, especially for the most vulnerable communities and households. Furthermore, substantial proof and supporting evidence show that such a system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level and reducing the multiple health and environmental risks stemming from industrial agriculture. This paper, therefore, aims to demonstrate the benefits of the agroecology food system through an evidenced-based approach that shows how the broader agricultural network structures can play a meaningful role, particularly for impoverished households in today’s reality. The methodology is centered on a structured literature review that analyses urban agriculture, agroecology, and food insecurity. Notably, ground-truthing, practical experiences, and field observation of agroecological farming were deployed. This paper places particular emphasis on the practical application of the agroecological approach in urban and peri-urban settings. Several evaluation reports on local and provincial initiatives clearly show that very few households engage in food gardens and urban agriculture. These households do not make use of their backyards or nearby open spaces for a number of reasons, such as stringent city by-laws, restricted access to land, little or no knowledge of innovative or alternative farming practices, and a general lack of interest. Furthermore, limited resources such as water and energy and lack of capacity building and training implementation are additional constraints that are hampering small scale food gardens and farms in other settings. The Agroecology systems approach is viewed as one of the key solutions to tackling these problems.

Keywords: agroecology, water-energy-food nexus, sutainable development goals, social, environmental and economc impact

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Tianqi Wu, Min Wang

Abstract:

Research investigating language acquisition from a constructionist perspective has demonstrated that language is learned as constructions at various linguistic levels, which is related to factors of frequency, semantic prototypicality, and form-meaning contingency. However, previous research on construction learning tended to focus on clause-level constructions such as verb argument constructions but few attempts were made to study morpheme-level constructions such as the progressive construction, which is regarded as a source of acquisition problems for English learners from diverse L1 backgrounds, especially for those whose L1 do not have an equivalent construction such as German and Chinese. To trace the developmental trajectory of Chinese EFL learners’ use of the progressive with respect to verb frequency, verb-progressive contingency, and verbal prototypicality and generality, a learner corpus consisting of three sub-corpora representing three different English proficiency levels was extracted from the Chinese Learners of English Corpora (CLEC). As the reference point, a native speakers’ corpus extracted from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays was also established. All the texts were annotated with C7 tagset by part-of-speech tagging software. After annotation all valid progressive hits were retrieved with AntConc 3.4.3 followed by a manual check. Frequency-related data showed that from the lowest to the highest proficiency level, (1) the type token ratio increased steadily from 23.5% to 35.6%, getting closer to 36.4% in the native speakers’ corpus, indicating a wider use of verbs in the progressive; (2) the normalized entropy value rose from 0.776 to 0.876, working towards the target score of 0.886 in native speakers’ corpus, revealing that upper-intermediate learners exhibited a more even distribution and more productive use of verbs in the progressive; (3) activity verbs (i.e., verbs with prototypical progressive meanings like running and singing) dropped from 59% to 34% but non-prototypical verbs such as state verbs (e.g., being and living) and achievement verbs (e.g., dying and finishing) were increasingly used in the progressive. Apart from raw frequency analyses, collostructional analyses were conducted to quantify verb-progressive contingency and to determine what verbs were distinctively associated with the progressive construction. Results were in line with raw frequency findings, which showed that contingency between the progressive and non-prototypical verbs represented by light verbs (e.g., going, doing, making, and coming) increased as English proficiency proceeded. These findings altogether suggested that beginning Chinese EFL learners were less productive in using the progressive construction: they were constrained by a small set of verbs which had concrete and typical progressive meanings (e.g., the activity verbs). But with English proficiency increasing, their use of the progressive began to spread to marginal members such as the light verbs.

Keywords: Construction learning, Corpus-based, Progressives, Prototype

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Dawei Xia, Benyan Jiang, Yong Li

Abstract:

Split-type air conditioners is widely used for indoor temperature regulation in urban residential buildings in summer in China. The energy-related occupant behavior has a great impact on building energy consumption. Obtaining the energy-related occupant behavior data of air conditioners is the research basis for the energy consumption prediction and simulation. Relying on the development of sensing and control technology, this paper selects Zigbee intelligent electronic equipment to monitor the energy-related occupant behavior of 20 households for 3 months in summer. Through analysis of data, it is found that people of different ages in the region have significant difference in the time, duration, frequency, and energy consumption of air conditioners, and form a data model of three basic energy-related occupant behavior patterns to provide an accurate simulation of energy.

Keywords: occupant behavior, Zigbee, split air conditioner, energy simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Yu Chen, Seong-Jin Kim, Jaehoon Chung

Abstract:

High throughput cells counting and sizing are often required for biomedical applications. Here we report design, fabrication and validating of a micro-machined Coulter counter device with multiple-channel to realize such application for low cost. Multiple vertical through-holes were fabricated on a silicon chip, combined with the PDMS micro-fluidics channel that serves as the sensing channel. In order to avoid the crosstalk introduced by the electrical connection, instead of measuring the current passing through, the potential of each channel is monitored, thus the high throughput is possible. A peak of the output potential can be captured when the cell/particle is passing through the microhole. The device was validated by counting and sizing the polystyrene beads with diameter of 6 μm, 10 μm and 15 μm. With the sampling frequency to be set at 100 kHz, up to 5000 counts/sec for each channel can be realized. The counting and enumeration of MCF7 cancer cells are also demonstrated.

Keywords: Coulter counter, cell enumeration, high through-put, cell sizing

Procedia PDF Downloads 605

Authors: M. Sajjadnejad, H. Omidvar, M. Javanbakht, A. Mozafari

Abstract:

Pure nickel coatings have been successfully electrodeposited on copper substrates by the pulse plating technique. The influence of current density, duty cycle and pulse frequency on the surface morphology, crystal orientation, and microhardness was determined. It was found that the crystallite size of the deposit increases with increasing current density and duty cycle. The crystal orientation progressively changed from a random texture at 1 A/dm2 to (200) texture at 10 A/dm2. Increasing pulse frequency resulted in increased texture coefficient and peak intensity of (111) reflection. An increase in duty cycle resulted in considerable increase in texture coefficient and peak intensity of (311) reflection. Coatings obtained at high current densities and duty cycles present a mixed morphology of small and large grains. Maximum microhardness of 193 Hv was achieved at 4 A/dm2, 10 Hz and duty cycle of 50%. Nickel coatings with (200) texture are ductile while (111) texture improves the microhardness of the coatings.

Keywords: current density, duty cycle, microstructure, nickel, pulse frequency

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Jaeyoung Lee, Minji Je

Abstract:

Objectives: The adolescents not attending school are named out-of-school adolescents. They are more vulnerable to health management and are likely to be exposed to a number of risk factors. This study was conducted to investigate the problem behavior of out-of-school adolescents and analyze the difference caused by gender. Methods: In this study, the problem behaviors of out-of-school adolescents, the vulnerable class, were defined in 8 types and based on this definition, the survey on run away from home, drop out, prostitution, violence, internet game addiction, theft, drug addiction, and smoking was conducted. The study was conducted in a total of 507 out-of-school adolescents, including 342 males, and 165 females. The type, frequency and start time of the 8 problem behaviors were identified. The collected data were analyzed with chi-square test and t-test using SPSS statistics 22. Results: Among the problem behaviors of the subjects, violence ( =17.41, p < .001), internet game addiction ( =16.14, p < .001), theft ( =22.48, p < .001), drug addiction ( =4.17, p=.041), and smoking ( =3.90, p=.048) were more significantly high in male out-of-school adolescents than female out-of-school adolescents. In addition, the frequency of the problem behavior was higher in male out-of-school adolescents with statistical significance than in female out-of-school adolescents (t=5.08, p= < .001). In terms of the start time of the problem behavior, only internet game addiction was higher in male out-of-school adolescents with the statistical significance than in female out-of-school adolescents ( =6.22, p=.032). No statistically significant difference was found in other problem behaviors (p > .05). Conclusions: In this study, it was found that gender difference in problem behaviors of out-of-school adolescents exists, and its frequency and difference of types were identified. When the social countermeasures were provided for those adolescents, a distinguished approach is required depending on the patterns of problem behavior and gender. When preparing policy alternatives and interventions for out-of-school adolescents, it is required to reflect the results of this study.

Keywords: addictive behavior, adolescent, gender, problem behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Joyraj Chakraborty, Geoffrey Ottoy, Jean-Pierre Goemaere, Lieven De Strycker

Abstract:

Sensor swarms can be a cost-effectieve and more user-friendly alternative for location based service systems in different application like health-care. To increase the lifetime of such swarm networks, the energy consumption should be scaled to the required localization accuracy. In this paper we have investigated some parameter for energy model that couples localization accuracy to energy-related sensor parameters such as signal length,Bandwidth and sample frequency. The goal is to use the model for the localization of undetermined environmental sounds, by means of wireless acoustic sensors. we first give an overview of TDOA-based localization together with the primary sources of TDOA error (including reverberation effects, Noise). Then we show that in localization, the signal sample rate can be under the Nyquist frequency, provided that enough frequency components remain present in the undersampled signal. The resulting localization error is comparable with that of similar localization systems.

Keywords: sensor swarms, localization, wireless sensor swarms, scalable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 416

Authors: Fayssal Amrane, Azeddine Chaiba

Abstract:

In this paper, type-2 fuzzy logic control (T2FLC) and neuro-fuzzy control (NFC) for a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based on direct power control (DPC) with a fixed switching frequency is proposed for wind generation application. First, a mathematical model of the doubly-fed induction generator implemented in d-q reference frame is achieved. Then, a DPC algorithm approach for controlling active and reactive power of DFIG via fixed switching frequency is incorporated using PID. The performance of T2FLC and NFC, which is based on the DPC algorithm, are investigated and compared to those obtained from the PID controller. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the NFC is more robust, superior dynamic performance for wind power generation system applications.

Keywords: doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), direct power control (DPC), neuro-fuzzy control (NFC), maximum power point tracking (MPPT), space vector modulation (SVM), type 2 fuzzy logic control (T2FLC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 409

Authors: Faith Samkange, Juliet Chipumuro, Henry Wanyama

Abstract:

Business development and entrepreneurship constitute a major part of economic and human development for many countries within the Southern Africa Development Communities (SADC). While a marked increase in entrepreneurship activity has been registered, more than 70% of these business enterprises are still failing particularly in their conceptual years. One of the major reasons for this failure is that project process trends have tended to be fragmented and linear in approach while focusing primarily on isolated articulation of development aspects such as marketing, operations, accounting and human resources management with limited integration. Given the complexity of environmental, economic and human development issues in the SADC region, a multi-disciplinary, transformative, systematic and coordinated approach towards entrepreneurship development may be a more useful approach. This paper develops a proposed conceptual framework for an innovative and sustainable food production and food consumption Agritech entrepreneurship project in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa based on a systematic review of existing literature. A thematic analysis of the literature reviewed is applied to develop this theoretical contribution to knowledge. The conceptual framework will be tested in a research driven intervention project designed to improve the quality of life for marginalized indigenous African communities by addressing poverty alleviation, unemployment and gender inequality as stipulated in the global sustainable development goals by the United Nations in 2018.

Keywords: innovative entrepreneurship, sustainability, food production and consumption, marginalised communities, poverty alleviation

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Roggers Mutwiri Aron

Abstract:

Watermelons are fruits that belong to the family cucurbitaceous. There are many types of watermelons have been positively identified to exist in the world. A watermelon consists of four distinct parts namely; seeds, pink flesh, white flesh and peel. It also contains high content of water of approximately 90% that is rich in essential minerals such as, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, sodium trace amounts of copper, iron, zinc and selenium. Watermelons have substantial amounts of boron, iodine, chromium, silicon and molybdenum. The levels of nutrients in different parts of the watermelons may be different. Selenium has been found to be a very useful food supplement especially for people living with HIV/AIDS. An experimental study was carried out to estimate the amount Se in different parts of the watermelon. Analysis of sampled watermelons was conducted using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results of the study indicated that high content of Se was present in the seeds compared to the other parts. High content of Se was also found in the water contained in the watermelon seeds.

Keywords: food supplement, watermelons, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, fruits

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Jelena Filipović, Milenko Košutić, Vladimir Filipović

Abstract:

In the last decades, the urban population has been characterized by sedentary lifestyles, low physical activity, and "fast food". These changes in diet and physical nonactivity have been associated with an increase in chronic diseases. Bread is one of the most popular wheat products consumed worldwide. Spelt wheat has shown potential in various food applications, including bread, pasta, breakfast cereal, and other products of altered nutritional characteristics compared to conventional wheat products. It has very high protein content and even 30 to 60% higher concentration of mineral elements Fe, Zn, Cu, Mg and P compared to Triticum Aestivum. Spelt wheat is growing without the use of pesticides in harsh ecological conditions and it is an old cultivar. So it can be used for organic and health-safe food. Changes in the formulation of bread with the aim of improving its nutritional and functional properties usually lead to changes in the dough's properties, which are related to the quality of the finished product. The aim of this paper is to research the impact of adding yeast extract to bread on sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance of a new product as a key factor for the successful marketing of a distinct product. The sensory analysis of bread with 5% yeast extract is as follows: the technological quality is very good (3.8), and the color of the product is excellent (4.85). Based on data, consumers' survey declared that they liked the taste of bread with 5% yeast extract (74%), consumers marked the product as likable (70%), and 75% of the total number of respondents would buy this new product. This paper is promoting a type of bread with 5% yeast extract (Z score 0.80) to improve diet and a product intended for consumers conscious about their health and diet.

Keywords: bread, yeast extract, sensory analysis, consumer survey, score analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Hantian Wu, Bo Huang, Yuan Zeng

Abstract:

Divisions between wealthy and poor, private and public landscapes are propagated by the increasing economic inequality of cities. While these are the spatial reflections of larger social issues and problems, urban design can at least employ spatial techniques that promote more inclusive rather than exclusive, overlapping rather than segregated, interlinked rather than disconnected landscapes. Indeed, the type of edge or border between urban landscapes plays a critical role in the way the environment is perceived. China experiences rapid urbanization, which poses unpredictable environmental challenges. The urban green cover and water body are under changes, which highly relevant to resident wealth and happiness. However, very limited knowledge and data on their rapid changes are available. In this regard, enhancing the monitoring of urban landscape with high-frequency method, evaluating and estimating the impacts of the urban landscape changes, and understating the driving forces of urban landscape changes can be a significant contribution for urban planning and studying. High-resolution remote sensing data has been widely applied to urban management in China. The map of urban land use map for the entire China of 2018 with 10 meters resolution has been published. However, this research focuses on the large-scale and high-resolution remote sensing land use but does not precisely focus on the seasonal change of urban covers. High-resolution remote sensing data has a long-operation cycle (e.g., Landsat 8 required 16 days for the same location), which is unable to satisfy the requirement of monitoring urban-landscape changes. On the other hand, aerial-remote or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sensing are limited by the aviation-regulation and cost was hardly widely applied in the mega-cities. Moreover, those data are limited by the climate and weather conditions (e.g., cloud, fog), and those problems make capturing spatial and temporal dynamics is always a challenge for the remote sensing community. Particularly, during the rainy season, no data are available even for Sentinel Satellite data with 5 days interval. Many natural events and/or human activities drive the changes of urban covers. In this case, enhancing the monitoring of urban landscape with high-frequency method, evaluating and estimating the impacts of the urban landscape changes, and understanding the mechanism of urban landscape changes can be a significant contribution for urban planning and studying. This project aims to use the high spatiotemporal fusion of remote sensing data to create short-cycle, high-resolution remote sensing data sets for exploring the high-frequently urban cover changes. This research will enhance the long-term monitoring applicability of high spatiotemporal fusion of remote sensing data for the urban landscape for optimizing the urban management of landscape border to promoting the inclusive of the urban landscape to all communities.

Keywords: urban land cover changes, remote sensing, high spatiotemporal fusion, urban management

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Rotem Mashkov, Noam Shoval

Abstract:

In an age when a tourist’s gaze is more focused on the daily lives of locals, it is evident that local food markets are being rediscovered. Traditional urban markets succeed in reinventing themselves as a space for consumption, recreation, and culture, enabling authentic experiences and interpersonal interactions with the local culture. Alongside this, the pressure of tourism development may result in commercialization and retail gentrification to the point of losing the sense of local identity. The issue of finding a balance between tourism development and the preservation of unique local features is at the heart of this study and is being tested using the case of the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. The research question—how merchants respond to tourism development in the Mahane Yehuda food market— focuses on local traders, a group of players who are usually absent from the research arenas, although they influence tourism development as well as influenced by it. Three main research methods were integrated into this study. The first two methods, a survey of articles survey and comparative mapping of the business mix, were used to characterize the changes in the Mahane Yehuda market both consciously and physically. The third research method, involving in-depth interviews with merchants, was used to examine the traders' attitudes and responses to tourism development. The findings indicate that there has been a turnaround in the market image over the past decade and a half. Additionally, there has been a significant physical change in the business mix, reflected by a decline of 15% in the number of stalls selling food products and delicacies. The data from the interviews on the traders’ attitudes towards tourism development were inconclusive; there were disagreements among the traders about the economic contribution of tourism development in relation to their dependence on the tourism industry. However, there was a consensus on the need for authentic elements in the marketplace. The findings of the study also indicate a strong link between the merchants’ response to tourism development and their stall ownership status as the merchant could exercise their position in various ways depending on the possession type.

Keywords: business mix, Jerusalem, local food markets, Mahane Yehuda market, merchants’ attitude, ownership status, retail gentrification, tourism development, traditional urban markets

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: F. Forouharmajd, S. Pourabdian, N. Ziayi Ghahnavieh

Abstract:

For many years, the ear protectors have been used to preventing the audio and non-audio effects of received noise from occupation environments. Despite performing hearing protection programs, there are many people which still suffer from noise-induced hearing loss. This study was conducted with the aim of determination of human hearing system response to received noise and the effectiveness of ear protectors on preventing of noise-induced hearing loss. Sound pressure microphones were placed in a simulated ear canal. The severity of noise measured inside and outside of ear canal. The noise reduction values due to installing ear protectors were calculated in the octave band frequencies and LabVIEW programmer. The results of noise measurement inside and outside of ear canal showed a different in received sound levels by ear canal. The effectiveness of ear protectors has been considerably reduced for the low frequency limits. A change in resonance frequency also was observed after using ear protectors. The study indicated the ear canal structure may affect the received noise and it may lead a difference between the received sound from the measured sound by a sound level meter, and hearing system. It means the human hearing system may probably respond different from a sound level meter. Hearing protectors’ efficiency declines by increasing the noise levels, and thus, they are not suitable to protect workers against industrial noise particularly low frequency noise. Hearing protectors may be solely a reason to damaging of hearing system in a special frequency via changing of human hearing system acoustical structure. We need developing the subjective method of hearing protectors testing, because their evaluation is not designed based on industrial noise or in the field.

Keywords: ear protector, hearing system, occupational noise, workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Sutar Rani Ananda, M. V. Murugendrappa

Abstract:

To investigate electrical properties of conducting polypyrrole (PPy) and cobalt aluminum oxide (CAO) nanocomposites, impedance analyzer in frequency range of 100 Hz to 5 MHz is used. In this work, PPy/CAO nanocomposites were synthesized by chemical oxidation polymerization method in different weight percent of CAO in PPy. The dielectric properties and AC conductivity studies were carried out for different nanocomposites in temperature range of room temperature to 180 °C. With the increase in frequency, the dielectric constant for all the nanocomposites was observed to decrease. AC conductivity of PPy was improved by addition of CAO nanopowder.

Keywords: polypyrrole, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, AC conductivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Restu Misrianti

Abstract:

The amino acid variation of Asn (allele A) at position 631 in Mx gene was specific to positive antiviral to avian viral desease. This research was aimed at identifying polymorphism of Mx gene in duck using molecular technique. Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to select the genotype of AA, AG and GG. There were thirteen duck from Indragiri Hulu regency (Riau Province) used in this experiment. DNA amplification results showed that the Mx gene in duck is found in a 73 bp fragment. Mx gene in duck did not show any polymorphism. The frequency of the resistant allele (AA) was 0%, while the frequency of the susceptible allele (GG) was 100%.

Keywords: duck, Mx gene, PCR, RFLP

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Witthaya Mekhum, Jinjutha Srihera

Abstract:

This research aims to study customer satisfaction towards the services of Baan Bueng Resort in Nongprue Subdistrict, Baanlamung District, Chonburi Province. 108 sample were drawn by random sampling from Thai and foreign tourists at Baan Bueng Resort. Questionnaires were distributed. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean (X) and standard deviation (S.D.). The tool used in this research was questionnaire on satisfaction towards the services of Baan Bueng Resort in Nongprue Subdistrict, Baanlamung District, Chonburi Province. The questionnaire can be divided into 3 parts; i.e. Part 1: General information i.e. gender, age, educational level, occupation, income, and nationality, Part 2: Customer satisfaction towards the services of Baan Bueng Resort; and Part 3: Suggestions of respondents. It can be concluded that most of the respondents are male, aged between 25 – 35 years old with bachelor degree. Most of them are private company employees with income 10,000–20,000 Baht per month. The majority of customers are satisfied with the services at Baan Beung Resort. Overall satisfaction is at good level. Considering each item, the item with the highest satisfaction level is personality and manner of employees and promptness and accuracy of cashier staff. Overall satisfaction towards the cleanliness of the rooms is at very good level. When considering each item, the item with the highest satisfaction level is that the guest room is cleaned everyday, while the satisfaction towards the quality of food and beverages at Baan Bueng Resort in Nongprue Subdistrict, Baanlamung District, Chonburi Province is at very good level. The item with the highest satisfaction is hotel facilities.

Keywords: satisfaction study, service, hotel, customer

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Quang Minh Dinh, Jian Guang Qin, Sabine Dittmann, Dinh Dac Tran

Abstract:

The age and population structure the dermal gopy Parapocryptes serperaster were studied using length distributions, otolith and von Bertalanffy model in the Mekong Delta over a whole year through monthly sampling. The sex ratio of P. serperaster was near 1:1, and von Bertalanffy growth parameters were L∞= 25.2 cm, K = 0.74 yr-1, and t0 = -0.22 yr-1. Fish size at first entry to fishery was 14.6 cm, and fishing mortality (1.57 yr-1) and natural mortality (1.51 yr-1) accounted for 51% and 49% of the total mortality (3.07 yr-1), respectively. Relative yield-per-recruit and biomass-per-recruit analyses revealed the levels of maximum exploitation yield (Emax = 0.83), maximum economic yield (E0.1 = 0.71) and the yield at 50% reduction of exploitation (E0.5 = 0.37). Otoliths from 164 female and 196 male gobies were readable, and the otolith morphometry data were used for age identification. The mean age estimated by reading otolith annual rings and by analysing length frequency distribution was consistent. This study shows that the otolith morphometry is a reliable method for aging this goby and possibly also applicable for other tropical gobies. The fishery analysis indicates that this goby stock has not been overexploited in the Mekong Delta.

Keywords: Parapcryptes serperaster, otolith, age, pulation structure, Vietnam

Procedia PDF Downloads 644

Authors: Basant Singh Sikarwar, Mukesh Roy, Ayush Goyal, Priya Ranjan

Abstract:

This work combines two bodies of knowledge which includes biomedical basis of blood stain formation and fluid communities’ wisdom that such formation of blood stain depends heavily on physical properties. Moreover biomedical research tells that different patterns in stains of blood are robust indicator of blood donor’s health or lack thereof. Based on these valuable insights an innovative screening tool is proposed which can act as an aide in the diagnosis of diseases such Anemia, Hyperlipidaemia, Tuberculosis, Blood cancer, Leukemia, Malaria etc., with enhanced confidence in the proposed analysis. To realize this powerful technique, simple, robust and low-cost micro-fluidic devices, a micro-capillary viscometer and a pendant drop tensiometer are designed and proposed to be fabricated to measure the viscosity, surface tension and wettability of various blood samples. Once prognosis and diagnosis data has been generated, automated linear and nonlinear classifiers have been applied into the automated reasoning and presentation of results. A support vector machine (SVM) classifies data on a linear fashion. Discriminant analysis and nonlinear embedding’s are coupled with nonlinear manifold detection in data and detected decisions are made accordingly. In this way, physical properties can be used, using linear and non-linear classification techniques, for screening of various diseases in humans and cattle. Experiments are carried out to validate the physical properties measurement devices. This framework can be further developed towards a real life portable disease screening cum diagnostics tool. Small-scale production of screening cum diagnostic devices is proposed to carry out independent test.

Keywords: blood, physical properties, diagnostic, nonlinear, classifier, device, surface tension, viscosity, wettability

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Athicha Cherdpunt, Patompong Satapornpong

Abstract:

The medical cannabis is made up of components also known as cannabinoids, which consists of two ingredients which are Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Interestingly, the Cannabinoid can be used for many treatments such as chemotherapy, including nausea and vomiting, cachexia, anorexia nervosa, spinal cord injury and disease, epilepsy, pain, and many others. However, the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of THC can cause sedation, anxiety, dizziness, appetite stimulation and impairments in driving and cognitive function. Furthermore, genetic polymorphisms of CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 influenced the THC metabolism and might be a cause of ADRs. Particularly, CYP2C19*17 allele increases gene transcription and therefore results in ultra-rapid metabolizer phenotype (UM). The aim of this study, is to investigate the frequency of CYP2C19*17 alleles in Thai patients who have been treated with medical cannabis. We prospectively enrolled 60 Thai patients who were treated with medical cannabis and clinical data from College of Pharmacy, Rangsit University. DNA of each patient was isolated from EDTA blood, using the Genomic DNA Mini Kit. CYP2C19*17 genotyping was conducted using the real time-PCR ViiA7 (ABI, Foster City, CA, USA). 30 patients with medical cannabis-induced ADRs group, 20 (67%) were female, and 10 (33%) were male, with an age range of 30-69 years. On the other hand, 30 patients without medical cannabis-induced ADRs (control group) consist of 17 (57%) female and 13 (43%) male. The most ADRs for medical cannabis treatment in the case group were dry mouth and dry throat (77%), tachycardia (70%), nausea (30%) and arrhythmia(10%). Accordingly, the case group carried CYP2C19*1/*1 (normal metabolizer) approximately 93%, while 7% patients carrying CYP2C19*1/*17 (ultra rapid metabolizers) exhibited in this group. Meanwhile, we found 90% of CYP2C19*1/*1 and 10% of CYP2C19*1/*17 in control group. In this study, we identified the frequency of CYP2C19*17 allele in Thai population which will support the pharmacogenetics biomarkers for screening and avoid ADRs of medical cannabis treatment.

Keywords: CYP2C19, allele frequency, ultra rapid metabolizer, medical cannabis

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: George Vernon Byrd, Bhim Bahadur Ghaley, Eri Hayashi

Abstract:

In urban farming, research and innovation are taking place at an unprecedented pace, and soilless growing technologies are emerging at different rates motivated by different objectives in various parts of the world. Local food production is ultimately a main objective everywhere, but adoption rates and expressions vary with socio-economic drivers. Herein, the status of hydroponics and aquaponics is summarized for four countries with diverse socio-economic settings: Europe (Denmark), Asia (Japan and Nepal) and North America (US). In Denmark, with a strong environmental ethic, soilless growing is increasing in urban agriculture because it is considered environmentally friendly. In Japan, soil-based farming is being replaced with commercial plant factories using advanced technology such as complete environmental control and computer monitoring. In Nepal, where rapid loss of agriculture land is occurring near cities, dozens of hydroponics and aquaponics systems have been built in the past decade, particularly in “non-traditional” sites such as roof tops to supplement family food. In the US, where there is also strong interest in locally grown fresh food, backyard and commercial systems have proliferated. Nevertheless, soilless growing is still in the research and development and early adopter stages, and the broad contribution of hydroponics and aquaponics to food security is yet to be fully determined. Nevertheless, current adoption of these technologies in diverse environments in different socio-economic settings highlights the potential contribution to food security with social and environmental benefits which contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: aquaponics, hydroponics, soilless agriculture, urban agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Zakiul Fuady, Ismail AB, Fauzi, Zulfian

Abstract:

This research was conducted to analyze the absorption coefficients of sound at several types of materials as well as its combinations. The aim of this research was to find the value of sound absorption coefficients on the materials and its combinations. The materials used in this research were gypsum panel, gypsum-fibre palm, fibre palm-gypsum, and foamed concrete-fibre palm. The test was conducted by using a method of reverberation chamber based on the ISO 354-1985 with the types of the sound source: white noise and pink noise at the frequency of 125 Hz - 8000 Hz. Based on the test results of white noise, it was found that the panel of gypsum-fibre palm has α = 0.93 at low frequency; the panel of fibre palm has α = 0.97 at a medium frequency; and the panel of foamed concrete-fibre palm has α = 0.89 at high frequency. Further, for the sound source of pink noise, it was found that the panel of gypsum-fibre palm has α = 0.99 at low level; the panel of fibre palm-gypsum has α = 0.86 at medium level; and the panel of fibre palm-gypsum has α = 0.64 at high level. The fibre palm panel could absorb the sounds well since this material has bigger airspace (pore) than the foamed concrete and gypsum. Consequently, when the sounds wave enters to this material it will be trapped in the space. The panel of fibre palm affected an increasing of sound absorption coefficient value at the combination materials when the panel of fibre palm was placed under another panel. However, the absorption coefficient values of both fibre palm and fibre palm-gypsum panels are about the same.

Keywords: coefficient of sound absorption, pink noise, white noise, palm

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Mahmoud E. Mohamed, Ahmed F. Shalash, Hanan A. Kamal

Abstract:

In communication systems, frequency jump is a serious problem caused by the oscillators used. Kalman filters are used to detect that jump, Despite the tradeoff between the noise level and the speed of the detection. In this paper, An improvement is introduced in the Kalman filter, Through a nonlinear change in the bandwidth of the filter. Simulation results show a considerable improvement in the filter speed with a very low noise level. Additionally, The effect on the response to false alarms is also presented and false alarm rate show improvement.

Keywords: Kalman filter, innovation, false detection, improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 594

Authors: Seyed Sadegh Naseralavi, Sohrab Nemati, Ehsan Khojastehfar, Sadegh Balaghi

Abstract:

In the present research, various formulations of wavelet transform are applied on acceleration time history of earthquake. The mentioned transforms decompose the strong ground motion into low and high frequency parts. Since the high frequency portion of strong ground motion has a minor effect on dynamic response of structures, the structure is excited by low frequency part. Consequently, the seismic response of structure is predicted consuming one half of computational time, comparing with conventional time history analysis. Towards reducing the computational effort needed in seismic optimization of structure, seismic optimization of a shear frame structure is conducted by applying various forms of mentioned transformation through genetic algorithm.

Keywords: time history analysis, wavelet transform, optimization, earthquake

Procedia PDF Downloads 225