Search results for: inflow performance relationship
4801 Artificial Intelligence as a Policy Response to Teaching and Learning Issues in Education in Ghana
Authors: Joshua Osondu
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This research explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be utilized as a policy response to address teaching and learning (TL) issues in education in Ghana. The dual (AI and human) instructor model is used as a theoretical framework to examine how AI can be employed to improve teaching and learning processes and to equip learners with the necessary skills in the emerging AI society. A qualitative research design was employed to assess the impact of AI on various TL issues, such as teacher workloads, a lack of qualified educators, low academic performance, unequal access to education and educational resources, a lack of participation in learning, and poor access and participation based on gender, place of origin, and disability. The study concludes that AI can be an effective policy response to TL issues in Ghana, as it has the potential to increase students’ participation in learning, increase access to quality education, reduce teacher workloads, and provide more personalized instruction. The findings of this study are significant for filling in the gaps in AI research in Ghana and other developing countries and for motivating the government and educational institutions to implement AI in TL, as this would ensure quality, access, and participation in education and help Ghana industrialize.Keywords: artificial intelligence, teacher, learner, students, policy response
Procedia PDF Downloads 924800 Fluidized-Bed Combustion of Biomass with Elevated Alkali Content: A Comparative Study between Two Alternative Bed Materials
Authors: P. Ninduangdee, V. I. Kuprianov
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Palm kernel shell is an important bioenergy resource in Thailand. However, due to elevated alkali content in biomass ash, this oil palm residue shows high tendency to bed agglomeration in a fluidized-bed combustion system using conventional bed material (silica sand). In this study, palm kernel shell was burned in the conical fluidized-bed combustor (FBC) using alumina and dolomite as alternative bed materials to prevent bed agglomeration. For each bed material, the combustion tests were performed at 45kg/h fuel feed rate with excess air within 20–80%. Experimental results revealed rather weak effects of the bed material type but substantial influence of excess air on the behaviour of temperature, O2, CO, CxHy, and NO inside the reactor, as well as on the combustion efficiency and major gaseous emissions of the conical FBC. The optimal level of excess air ensuring high combustion efficiency (about 98.5%) and acceptable level of the emissions was found to be about 40% when using alumina and 60% with dolomite. By using these alternative bed materials, bed agglomeration can be prevented when burning the shell in the proposed conical FBC. However, both bed materials exhibited significant changes in their morphological, physical and chemical properties in the course of the time.Keywords: palm kernel shell, fluidized-bed combustion, alternative bed materials, combustion and emission performance, bed agglomeration prevention
Procedia PDF Downloads 2474799 Heat Transfer Analysis of Corrugated Plate Heat Exchanger
Authors: Ketankumar Gandabhai Patel, Jalpit Balvantkumar Prajapati
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Plate type heat exchangers has many thin plates that are slightly apart and have very large surface areas and fluid flow passages that are good for heat transfer. This can be a more effective heat exchanger than the tube or shell heat exchanger due to advances in brazing and gasket technology that have made this plate exchanger more practical. Plate type heat exchangers are most widely used in food processing industries and dairy industries. Mostly fouling occurs in plate type heat exchanger due to deposits create an insulating layer over the surface of the heat exchanger, that decreases the heat transfer between fluids and increases the pressure drop. The pressure drop increases as a result of the narrowing of the flow area, which increases the gap velocity. Therefore, the thermal performance of the heat exchanger decreases with time, resulting in an undersized heat exchanger and causing the process efficiency to be reduced. Heat exchangers are often over sized by 70 to 80%, of which 30 % to 50% is assigned to fouling. The fouling can be reduced by varying some geometric parameters and flow parameters. Based on the study, a correlation will estimate for Nusselt number as a function of Reynolds number, Prandtl number and chevron angle.Keywords: heat transfer coefficient, single phase flow, mass flow rate, pressure drop
Procedia PDF Downloads 3124798 Posterior Acetabular Fractures-Optimizing the Treatment by Enhancing Practical Skills
Authors: Olivera Lupescu, Taina Elena Avramescu, Mihail Nagea, Alexandru Dimitriu
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Acetabular fractures represent a real challenge due to their impact upon the long term function of the hip joint, and due to the risk of intra- and peri-operative complications especially that they affect young, active people. That is why treating these fractures require certain skills which must be exercised, regarding the pre-operative planning, as well as the execution of surgery.The authors retrospectively analyse 38 cases with acetabular fractures operated using the posterior approach in our hospital between 01.01.2013- 01.01.2015 for which complete medical records ensure a follow-up of 24 months, in order to establish the main causes of potential errors and to underline the methods for preventing them. This target is included in the Erasmus + project ‘Collaborative learning for enhancing practical skills for patient-focused interventions in gait rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery COR-skills’. This paper analyses the pitfalls revealed by these cases, as well as the measures necessary to enhance the practical skills of the surgeons who perform acetabular surgery. Pre-op planning matched the intra and post-operative outcome in 88% of the analyzed points, from 72% at the beginning to 94% in the last case, meaning that experience is very important in treating this injury. The main problems detected for the posterior approach were: nervous complications - 3 cases, 1 of them a complete paralysis of the sciatic nerve, which recovered 6 months after surgery, and in other 2 cases intra-articular position of the screws was demonstrated by post-operative CT scans, so secondary screw removal was necessary in these cases. We analysed this incident, too, due to lack of information about the relationship between the screws and the joint secondary to this approach. Septic complications appeared in 3 cases, 2 superficial and 1 profound (requiring implant removal). The most important problems were the reduction of the fractures and the positioning of the screws so as not to interfere with the the articular space. In posterior acetabular fractures, pre-op complex planning is important in order to achieve maximum treatment efficacy with minimum of risk; an optimal training of the surgeons insisting on the main points of potential mistakes ensure the success of the procedure, as well as a favorable outcome for the patient.Keywords: acetabular fractures, articular congruency, surgical skills, vocational training
Procedia PDF Downloads 2064797 A Review of Digital Twins to Reduce Emission in the Construction Industry
Authors: Zichao Zhang, Yifan Zhao, Samuel Court
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The carbon emission problem of the traditional construction industry has long been a pressing issue. With the growing emphasis on environmental protection and advancement of science and technology, the organic integration of digital technology and emission reduction has gradually become a mainstream solution. Among various sophisticated digital technologies, digital twins, which involve creating virtual replicas of physical systems or objects, have gained enormous attention in recent years as tools to improve productivity, optimize management and reduce carbon emissions. However, the relatively high implementation costs including finances, time, and manpower associated with digital twins have limited their widespread adoption. As a result, most of the current applications are primarily concentrated within a few industries. In addition, the creation of digital twins relies on a large amount of data and requires designers to possess exceptional skills in information collection, organization, and analysis. Unfortunately, these capabilities are often lacking in the traditional construction industry. Furthermore, as a relatively new concept, digital twins have different expressions and usage methods across different industries. This lack of standardized practices poses a challenge in creating a high-quality digital twin framework for construction. This paper firstly reviews the current academic studies and industrial practices focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry using digital twins. Additionally, it identifies the challenges that may be encountered during the design and implementation of a digital twin framework specific to this industry and proposes potential directions for future research. This study shows that digital twins possess substantial potential and significance in enhancing the working environment within the traditional construction industry, particularly in their ability to support decision-making processes. It proves that digital twins can improve the work efficiency and energy utilization of related machinery while helping this industry save energy and reduce emissions. This work will help scholars in this field to better understand the relationship between digital twins and energy conservation and emission reduction, and it also serves as a conceptual reference for practitioners to implement related technologies.Keywords: digital twins, emission reduction, construction industry, energy saving, life cycle, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 1014796 Impacts of Transformational Leadership: Petronas Stations in Sabah, Malaysia
Authors: Lizinis Cassendra Frederick Dony, Jirom Jeremy Frederick Dony, Cyril Supain Christopher
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The purpose of this paper is to improve the devotion to leadership through HR practices implementation at the PETRONAS stations. This emphasize the importance of personal grooming and Customer Care hospitality training for their front line working individuals and teams’ at PETRONAS stations in Sabah. Based on Thomas Edison, International Leadership Journal, theory, research, education and development practice and application to all organizational phenomena may affect or be affected by leadership. FINDINGS – PETRONAS in short called Petroliam Nasional Berhad is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources. Fortune ranks PETRONAS as the 68th largest company in the world in 2012. It also ranks PETRONAS as the 12th most profitable company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. As of the end of March 2005, the PETRONAS Group comprised 103 wholly owned subsidiaries, 19 partly owned outfits and 57 associated companies. The group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining, marketing and distribution of petroleum products, trading, gas processing and liquefaction, gas transmission pipeline network operations, marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering and property investment. PETRONAS has growing their marketing channel in a competitive market. They have combined their resources to pursue common goals. PETRONAS provides opportunity to carry out Industrial Training Job Placement to the University students in Malaysia for 6-8 months. The effects of the Industrial Training have exposed them to the real working environment experience acting representing on behalf of General Manager for almost one year. Thus, the management education and reward incentives schemes have aspire the working teams transformed to gain their good leadership. Furthermore, knowledge and experiences are very important in the human capital development transformation. SPSS extends the accurate analysis PETRONAS achievement through 280 questionnaires and 81 questionnaires through excel calculation distributed to interview face to face with the customers, PETRONAS dealers and front desk staffs stations in the 17 stations in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Hence, this research study will improve its service quality innovation and business sustainability performance optimization. ORIGINALITY / VALUE – The impact of Transformational Leadership practices have influenced the working team’s behaviour as a Brand Ambassadors of PETRONAS. Finally, the findings correlation indicated that PETRONAS stations needs more HR resources practices to deploy more customer care retention resources in mitigating the business challenges in oil and gas industry. Therefore, as the business established at stiff competition globally (Cooper, 2006; Marques and Simon, 2006), it is crucial for the team management should be capable to minimize noises risk, financial risk and mitigating any other risks as a whole at the optimum level. CONCLUSION- As to conclude this research found that both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership4 were positively correlated with ratings of platoon potency and ratings of leadership for the platoon leader and sergeant were moderately inter correlated. Due to this identification, we recommended that PETRONAS management should offers quality team management in PETRONAS stations in a broader variety of leadership training specialization in the operation efficiency at the front desk Customer Care hospitality. By having the reliability and validity of job experiences, it leverages diversity teamwork and cross collaboration. Other than leveraging factor, PETRONAS also will strengthen the interpersonal front liners effectiveness and enhance quality of interaction through effective communication. Finally, through numerous CSR correlation studies regression PETRONAS performance on Corporate Social Performance and several control variables.1 CSR model activities can be mis-specified if it is not controllable under R & D which evident in various feedbacks collected from the local communities and younger generation is inclined to higher financial expectation from PETRONAS. But, however, it created a huge impact on the nation building as part of its social adaptability overreaching their business stakeholders’ satisfaction in Sabah.Keywords: human resources practices implementation (hrpi), source of competitive advantage in people’s development (socaipd), corporate social responsibility (csr), service quality at front desk stations (sqafd), impacts of petronas leadership (iopl)
Procedia PDF Downloads 3514795 Reliability Enhancement by Parameter Design in Ferrite Magnet Process
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Ferrite magnet is widely used in many automotive components such as motors and alternators. Magnets used inside the components must be in good quality to ensure the high level of performance. The purpose of this study is to design input parameters that optimize the ferrite magnet production process to ensure the quality and reliability of manufactured products. Design of Experiments (DOE) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) are used as mutual supplementations to optimize the process. DOE and SPC are quality tools being used in the industry to monitor and improve the manufacturing process condition. These tools are practically used to maintain the process on target and within the limits of natural variation. A mixed Taguchi method is utilized for optimization purpose as a part of DOE analysis. SPC with proportion data is applied to assess the output parameters to determine the optimal operating conditions. An example of case involving the monitoring and optimization of ferrite magnet process was presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. Through the utilization of these tools, reliable magnets can be produced by following the step by step procedures of proposed framework. One of the main contributions of this study was producing the crack free magnets by applying the proposed parameter design.Keywords: ferrite magnet, crack, reliability, process optimization, Taguchi method
Procedia PDF Downloads 5174794 Improve Safety Performance of Un-Signalized Intersections in Oman
Authors: Siham G. Farag
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The main objective of this paper is to provide a new methodology for road safety assessment in Oman through the development of suitable accident prediction models. GLM technique with Poisson or NBR using SAS package was carried out to develop these models. The paper utilized the accidents data of 31 un-signalized T-intersections during three years. Five goodness-of-fit measures were used to assess the overall quality of the developed models. Two types of models were developed separately; the flow-based models including only traffic exposure functions, and the full models containing both exposure functions and other significant geometry and traffic variables. The results show that, traffic exposure functions produced much better fit to the accident data. The most effective geometric variables were major-road mean speed, minor-road 85th percentile speed, major-road lane width, distance to the nearest junction, and right-turn curb radius. The developed models can be used for intersection treatment or upgrading and specify the appropriate design parameters of T- intersections. Finally, the models presented in this thesis reflect the intersection conditions in Oman and could represent the typical conditions in several countries in the middle east area, especially gulf countries.Keywords: accidents prediction models (APMs), generalized linear model (GLM), T-intersections, Oman
Procedia PDF Downloads 2734793 Learning outside the Box by Using Memory Techniques Skill: Case Study in Indonesia Memory Sports Council
Authors: Muhammad Fajar Suardi, Fathimatufzzahra, Dela Isnaini Sendra
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Learning is an activity that has been used to do, especially for a student or academics. But a handful of people have not been using and maximizing their brains work and some also do not know a good brain work time in capturing the lessons, so that knowledge is absorbed is also less than the maximum. Indonesia Memory Sports Council (IMSC) is an institution which is engaged in the performance of the brain and the development of effective learning methods by using several techniques that can be used in considering the lessons and knowledge to grasp well, including: loci method, substitution method, and chain method. This study aims to determine the techniques and benefits of using the method given in learning and memorization by applying memory techniques taught by Indonesia Memory Sports Council (IMSC) to students and the difference if not using this method. This research uses quantitative research with survey method addressed to students of Indonesian Memory Sports Council (IMSC). The results of this study indicate that learn, understand and remember the lesson using the techniques of memory which is taught in Indonesia Memory Sport Council is very effective and faster to absorb the lesson than learning without using the techniques of memory, and this affects the academic achievement of students in each educational institution.Keywords: chain method, Indonesia memory sports council, loci method, substitution method
Procedia PDF Downloads 2904792 Understanding of Heritage Values within University Education Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mahmoud Tarek Mohamed Hammad
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Despite the importance of the role and efforts made by the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in reviving and preserving heritage architecture as an important cultural heritage in the Kingdom, The idea revolves around restoration and conservation processes and neglects the architectural heritage values, whose content can be used in sustainable contemporary architectural works. Educational values based on heritage architecture and how to integrate with the contemporary requirements were investigated in this research. For this purpose, by understanding the heritage architectural values as well as educational, academic process, the researcher presented an educational model of questionnaire forms for architecture students and the staff at the Architecture Department at Al-Baha University as a case study that serves the aims of the research. The results of the research show that heritage values especially those interview results are considered as a positive indicator of the importance of these values. The students and the staff need both to gain an understanding of heritage values as well as an understanding of theories of incorporating those values into the design process of contemporary local architecture. The research concludes that a correct understanding of the heritage values, its performance, and its reintegration with modern architecture technology should be focused on architectural education.Keywords: heritage architecture, academic work, heritage values, sustainable contemporary local architectural
Procedia PDF Downloads 1674791 Application of Voltammetry as a Non-Destructive Tool to Quantify Cathodic Protection of Steel in Simulated Soil Solution
Authors: Mandlenkosi G. R. Mahlobo, Peter A. Olubambi
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Cathodic protection (CP) has been widely considered as a suitable technique for mitigating corrosion of steel structures buried in soil. Plenty of efforts have been made in developing techniques, in particular non-destructive techniques, for monitoring and quantifying the effectiveness of CP to ensure the sustainability and performance of buried steel structures. This study was aimed at using a specifically modified voltammetry approach as a non-destructive tool to monitor and quantify the effectiveness of CP of steel in simulated soil. Carbon steel was subjected to electrochemical tests with NS4 solution used as simulated soil conditions for four days before applying CP for further 11 days. A specifically modified voltammetry technique was applied at various time intervals of the experiment to monitor the corrosion behaviour and therefore reflect CP effectiveness. The voltammetry results revealed that the application of CP reduced the corrosion rate from the highest value of 410 µm/yr to 8 µm/yr between days 5 and 14 of the experiments. The microstructural analysis of the steel surface performed using x-ray diffraction identified calcareous deposit as the dominant phase protecting the surface from corrosion. It was deduced that the formation of calcareous deposits was linked with the effectiveness of CP of steel.Keywords: carbon steel, cathodic protection, NS4 solution, voltammetry, XRD
Procedia PDF Downloads 684790 The Role of Human Resource Flexibility and Agility in Achieving Sustainable Competitiveness
Authors: Agnieszka Leszczynska
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Flexibility and agility constitute the most dominant features of modern human resource management systems. The former pertains to procedures, practices and competences of human resources, and the latter to the procedures and practices’ effectiveness in dealing with changing conditions in the surrounding environment. The purpose of the paper is to present the relations between the flexibility and agility of human resources and achieving sustainable competitiveness. Based upon hitherto research, we develop a conceptual model that links the constructs together. The conducted study is of theoretical and conceptual nature. Critical literature analysis and the synthesis method were applied. A premise was made that the three dimensions of HR (Human Resources) flexibility (employee skill flexibility, employee behaviour flexibility, and HR practice flexibility) and HR agility affect competitiveness, by increasing the flexibility, creativity of human resources, and improving quality performance, and exert an impact upon the quality of life of employees and social relations. In particular, the agility and flexibility of human resources contribute to the growth of adaptability and strategic orientation, which directly affects the organization's competitiveness. The research results will help to better understand the impact of flexibility and agility related to the HRM (Human Resources Management) system upon the implementation of the concept of sustainable development in the organization.Keywords: agility, human resource, sustainable competitiveness, sustainable development
Procedia PDF Downloads 2224789 Reliability Study of Steel Headed Stud Shear Connector Exposed to Fire
Authors: Idris Haruna Muhammad, Okorie Austine Uche
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This paper presents a study on reliability of shear connector exposed to fire situation in accordance with Eurocode 4. The reliability analysis i reliability analysis is based on First Order Second Moment Integration Technique (FOSMIT) using FORM 5. Performance functions for shear connector are derived for normal and under fire condition and their implied safety levels are evaluated. Four (4) design variables which include ultimate tensile strength, diameter of the stud, temperature and span of the steel beam are treated as random variables with their statistical characteristic adopted from literature. Results show that for normal condition the β – value decrease from 7.95 to 5.43 which show it is conservative in safety level for normal condition. Under fire condition, β – value decrease from 2.88 to – 0.32 with corresponding load ratio of 0.2 to 1.2. It was also shown from sensitivity assessment, that the temperature and span of the beam decrease with increase in their β – values while ultimate tensile strength and diameter of the stud increase with increase in their β – values for a given load ratio of 0.2 to 1.2.Keywords: Composite steel beam, Fire condition, Shear stud, Sensitivity study
Procedia PDF Downloads 5214788 Gasification of Groundnut Shell in an Air Bubbling Fluidized Bed Gasifier
Authors: Dharminer Singh, Sanjeev Yadav, Pravakar Mohanty
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In this work, gasification of groundnut shell was carried out in an air bubbling fluidized bed gasifier. Atmospheric air used as gasification agent in the gasifier. The groundnut shell used for gasification was in powder form and the locally available river sand was used as bed material. Conventional charcoal was used for heating sand bed. Two cyclones were used for proper segregation of char particles and for proper cleaning and cooling the product gas. Experiments were performed on different equivalence ratio (ER) 0.3 - 0.33 by varying feeding rate 36 - 32.8 kg/h of biomass and by keeping the air flow rate constant at bed temperature between 700 °C – 800 °C. Performance of gasifier was evaluated on the basis of different parameters such as cold gas efficiency, carbon conversion efficiency (CCE), Tar and Suspended particles matter (SPM) generation, gas yield, and Higher heating value (HHV) of gas. The optimal ER value for gasification of groundnut shell (GNS) powder in an air bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was found to be 0.31. Cold gas efficiency and CCE value at optimal ER was found to be 63.7 %, and 91 %, respectively. Concentration of Tar and SPM, HHV of gas, and gas yield at optimal ER was found to be 11.88 g/Nm3, 2.38 MJ/Nm3, and 2.01m3/kg, respectively. In the product gas, concentrations of CO, CO2, CH4 and H2 were found to be 12.94%, 13.5%, 5.74% and 13.77%, respectively. At ER 0.31, it was observed that bed temperature of gasifier was in steady state for long time at 714 °C with 5 – 10 °C fluctuation.Keywords: air bubbling fluidized bed gasifier, groundnut shell powder, equivalence ratio (ER), cold gas efficiency, carbon conversion efficiency (CCE), high heating value (HHV)
Procedia PDF Downloads 2804787 Discussion of Leadership Styles and Performance Management in MNEs
Authors: Yin-Tsuo Huang
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Most leadership theories focus on leader's development. However, in reality, the led is also very important in the leadership process. Development relates to ensure the individual to grow in the skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform at leaders’ highest possible level now and for the future. The topic area of the relationships among leadership styles, subordinate maturity, and information distinction was identified because it is a practical problem and personal experiences occurring in multinational enterprises. Some questions to be answered through this critical analysis of the literature are: (1) What are the effective leadership styles in the leader-member and member-member relationships? (2) How do the subordinates react to leaders’ managerial style? (3) What are the relationships among leadership styles, subordinate maturity, and resulting information distinction? (4) What kinds of information distinction effects the relationships between leadership styles and subordinate maturity? (5) Where do leaders and subordinates can get information, and how? (6) In what areas are leaders’ or subordinates’ knowledge weakest, and how can they get others to prove the information they need? (7) How important is that information to the subordinates? (8) Do the leaders keep too much information for their subordinates because it is inconvenient? The main purpose of this review is to explore the theoretical and empirical literature about the relationships among leadership style, subordinates maturity, and information distinction implications in multinational Taiwanese organizations to identify areas of future scholarly inquiry.Keywords: leadership style, subordinate maturity, information distinction, multinational organization
Procedia PDF Downloads 5134786 Heater and Substrate Profile Optimization for Low Power Portable Breathalyzer to Diagnose Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Ramji Kalidoss, Snekhalatha Umapathy, V. Dhinakaran, J. M. Mathana
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Chemi-resistive sensors used in breathalyzers have become a hotspot between the international breath research communities. These sensors exhibit a significant change in its resistance depending on the temperature it gets heated thus demanding high power leading to non-portable instrumentation. In this work, numerical simulation to identify the suitable combination of substrate and heater profile using COMSOL multiphysics was studied. Ni-Cr and Pt-100 joule resistive heater with various profiles were studied beneath the square and circular alumina substrates. The temperature distribution was uniform throughout the square substrate with the meander shaped pt100 heater with 48 mW power consumption for 200 oC. Moreover, this heater profile induced minimal stress on the substrate with 0.5 mm thick. A novel Graphene based ternary metal oxide nanocomposite (GO/SnO2/TiO2) was coated on the optimized substrate and heater to elucidate the response of diabetes biomarker (acetone). The sensor exhibited superior gas sensing performance towards acetone in the exhaled breath concentration range for diabetes (0.25 – 3 ppm). These results indicated the importance of substrate and heater properties along with sensing material for low power portable breathalyzers.Keywords: Breath Analysis, Chemical Sensors, Diabetes Mellitus, Graphene Nanocomposites, Heater, Substrate
Procedia PDF Downloads 1364785 A Virtual Grid Based Energy Efficient Data Gathering Scheme for Heterogeneous Sensor Networks
Authors: Siddhartha Chauhan, Nitin Kumar Kotania
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Traditional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) generally use static sinks to collect data from the sensor nodes via multiple forwarding. Therefore, network suffers with some problems like long message relay time, bottle neck problem which reduces the performance of the network. Many approaches have been proposed to prevent this problem with the help of mobile sink to collect the data from the sensor nodes, but these approaches still suffer from the buffer overflow problem due to limited memory size of sensor nodes. This paper proposes an energy efficient scheme for data gathering which overcomes the buffer overflow problem. The proposed scheme creates virtual grid structure of heterogeneous nodes. Scheme has been designed for sensor nodes having variable sensing rate. Every node finds out its buffer overflow time and on the basis of this cluster heads are elected. A controlled traversing approach is used by the proposed scheme in order to transmit data to sink. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified by simulation.Keywords: buffer overflow problem, mobile sink, virtual grid, wireless sensor networks
Procedia PDF Downloads 3914784 Evaluating Accessibility to Bangkok Mass Transit System: Case Study of Saphan Taksin BTS Station
Authors: Rungpansa Noichan, Bart Julien Dewancker
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Access to the mass transit system, including rapid elevated and underground transport has become an outstanding issue for many cities. The mass transit access development should focus on behavioral responses of the different passenger groups. Moreover, it should consider about the appearance of intent-oriented action related accessibility that was explored from user’s satisfaction and attitudes related to services quality. This study aims to evaluate mass transit accessibility from passenger’s satisfaction, therefore, understanding the passenger’s attitudes about mass transit accessibility. The study area of this research is Bangkok Mass Transit system (BTS Skytrain) at Saphan Taksin station. 200 passengers at Saphan Taksin station were asked to rate the questionnaires survey that considers accessibility aspects of convenience, safety, feeder connectivity, and other dimensions. The survey was to find out the passenger attitudes and satisfaction for access to the BTS station, and the result shows several factors that influence the passenger choice of using the BTS as a public transportation mode and passenger’s opinion that needs to concern for the development mass transit system and accessibility performance.Keywords: urban transportation, user satisfaction, accessibility, Bangkok mass transit
Procedia PDF Downloads 2694783 Doing Durable Organisational Identity Work in the Transforming World of Work: Meeting the Challenge of Different Workplace Strategies
Authors: Theo Heyns Veldsman, Dieter Veldsman
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Organisational Identity (OI) refers to who and what the organisation is, what it stands for and does, and what it aspires to become. OI explores the perspectives of how we see ourselves, are seen by others and aspire to be seen. It provides as rationale the ‘why’ for the organisation’s continued existence. The most widely accepted differentiating features of OI are encapsulated in the organisation’s core, distinctive, differentiating, and enduring attributes. OI finds its concrete expression in the organisation’s Purpose, Vision, Strategy, Core Ideology, and Legacy. In the emerging new order infused by hyper-turbulence and hyper-fluidity, the VICCAS world, OI provides a secure anchor and steady reference point for the organisation, particularly the growing widespread focus on Purpose, which is indicative of the organisation’s sense of social citizenship. However, the transforming world of work (TWOW) - particularly the potent mix of ongoing disruptive innovation, the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the gig economy with the totally unpredicted COVID19 pandemic - has resulted in the consequential adoption of different workplace strategies by organisations in terms of how, where, and when work takes place. Different employment relations (transient to permanent); work locations (on-site to remote); work time arrangements (full-time at work to flexible work schedules); and technology enablement (face-to-face to virtual) now form the basis of the employer/employee relationship. The different workplace strategies, fueled by the demands of TWOW, pose a substantive challenge to organisations of doing durable OI work, able to fulfill OI’s critical attributes of core, distinctive, differentiating, and enduring. OI work is contained in the ongoing, reciprocally interdependent stages of sense-breaking, sense-giving, internalisation, enactment, and affirmation. The objective of our paper is to explore how to do durable OI work relative to different workplace strategies in the TWOW. Using a conceptual-theoretical approach from a practice-based orientation, the paper addresses the following topics: distinguishes different workplace strategies based upon a time/place continuum; explicates stage-wise the differential organisational content and process consequences of these strategies for durable OI work; indicates the critical success factors of durable OI work under these differential conditions; recommends guidelines for OI work relative to TWOW; and points out ethical implications of all of the above.Keywords: organisational identity, workplace strategies, new world of work, durable organisational identity work
Procedia PDF Downloads 2004782 Thermal and Dielectric Breakdown Criterium for Low Voltage Switching Devices
Authors: Thomas Merciris, Mathieu Masquere, Yann Cressault, Pascale Petit
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The goal of an alternative current (AC) switching device is to allow the arc (created during the opening phase of the contacts) to extinguish at the current zero. The plasma temperature rate of cooling down, the electrical characteristic of the arc (current-voltage), and the rise rate of the transient recovery voltage (TRV) are critical parameters which influence the performance of a switching device. To simulate the thermal extinction of the arc and to obtain qualitative data on the processes responsible for this phenomenon, a 1D MHD fluid model in the air was developed and coupled to an external electric circuit. After thermal extinction, the dielectric strength of the hot air (< 4kK) was then estimated by the Bolsig+ software and the critical electric fields method with the temperature obtained by the MHD simulation. The influence of copper Cu and silver Ag vapors was investigated on the thermal and dielectric part of the simulation with various current forms (100A to 1kA). Finally, those values of dielectric strength have been compared to the experimental values obtained in the case of two separating silver contacts. The preliminary results seem to indicate the dielectric strength after multiples hundreds of microseconds is the same order of magnitude as experimentally found.Keywords: MHD simulation, dielectric recovery, Bolsig+, silver vapors, copper vapors, breakers, electric arc
Procedia PDF Downloads 1164781 A Lifetime-Enhancing Monitoring Node Distribution Using Minimum Spanning Tree in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Sungchul Ha, Hyunwoo Kim
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In mobile ad hoc networks, all nodes in a network only have limited resources and calculation ability. Therefore communication topology which have long lifetime is good for all nodes in mobile ad hoc networks. There are a variety of researches on security problems in wireless ad hoc networks. The existing many researches try to make efficient security schemes to reduce network power consumption and enhance network lifetime. Because a new node can join the network at any time, the wireless ad hoc networks are exposed to various threats and can be destroyed by attacks. Resource consumption is absolutely necessary to secure networks, but more resource consumption can be a critical problem to network lifetime. This paper focuses on efficient monitoring node distribution to enhance network lifetime in wireless ad hoc networks. Since the wireless ad hoc networks cannot use centralized infrastructure and security systems of wired networks, a new special IDS scheme is necessary. The scheme should not only cover all nodes in a network but also enhance the network lifetime. In this paper, we propose an efficient IDS node distribution scheme using minimum spanning tree (MST) method. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has superior performance in comparison with existing algorithms.Keywords: MANETs, IDS, power control, minimum spanning tree
Procedia PDF Downloads 3724780 Tip-Apex Distance as a Long-Term Risk Factor for Hospital Readmission Following Intramedullary Fixation of Intertrochanteric Fractures
Authors: Brandon Knopp, Matthew Harris
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Purpose: Tip-apex distance (TAD) has long been discussed as a metric for determining risk of failure in the fixation of peritrochanteric fractures. TAD measurements over 25 millimeters (mm) have been associated with higher rates of screw cut out and other complications in the first several months after surgery. However, there is limited evidence for the efficacy of this measurement in predicting the long-term risk of negative outcomes following hip fixation surgery. The purpose of our study was to investigate risk factors including TAD for hospital readmission, loss of pre-injury ambulation and development of complications within 1 year after hip fixation surgery. Methods: A retrospective review of proximal hip fractures treated with single screw intramedullary devices between 2016 and 2020 was performed at a 327-bed regional medical center. Patients included had a postoperative follow-up of at least 12 months or surgery-related complications developing within that time. Results: 44 of the 67 patients in this study met the inclusion criteria with adequate follow-up post-surgery. There was a total of 10 males (22.7%) and 34 females (77.3%) meeting inclusion criteria with a mean age of 82.1 (± 12.3) at the time of surgery. The average TAD in our study population was 19.57mm and the average 1-year readmission rate was 15.9%. 3 out of 6 patients (50%) with a TAD > 25mm were readmitted within one year due to surgery-related complications. In contrast, 3 out of 38 patients (7.9%) with a TAD < 25mm were readmitted within one year due to surgery-related complications (p=0.0254). Individual TAD measurements, averaging 22.05mm in patients readmitted within 1 year of surgery and 19.18mm in patients not readmitted within 1 year of surgery, were not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.2113). Conclusions: Our data indicate a significant improvement in hospital readmission rates up to one year after hip fixation surgery in patients with a TAD < 25mm with a decrease in readmissions of over 40% (50% vs 7.9%). This result builds upon past investigations by extending the follow-up time to 1 year after surgery and utilizing hospital readmissions as a metric for surgical success. With the well-documented physical and financial costs of hospital readmission after hip surgery, our study highlights a reduction of TAD < 25mm as an effective method of improving patient outcomes and reducing financial costs to patients and medical institutions. No relationship was found between TAD measurements and secondary outcomes, including loss of pre-injury ambulation and development of complications.Keywords: hip fractures, hip reductions, readmission rates, open reduction internal fixation
Procedia PDF Downloads 1454779 The Thoughts and Feelings of 60-72 Month Old Children about School and Teacher
Authors: Ayse Ozturk Samur, Gozde Inal Kiziltepe
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No matter what level of education it is, starting a school is an exciting process as it includes new experiences. In this process, child steps into a different environment and institution except from the family institution which he was born into and feels secure. That new environment is different from home; it is a social environment which has its own rules, and involves duties and responsibilities that should be fulfilled and new vital experiences. The children who have a positive attitude towards school and like school are more enthusiastic and eager to participate in classroom activities. Moreover, a close relationship with the teacher enables the child to have positive emotions and ideas about the teacher and school and helps children adapt to school easily. In this study, it is aimed to identify children’s perceptions of academic competence, attitudes towards school and ideas about their teachers. In accordance with the aim a mixed method that includes both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods are used. The study is supported with qualitative data after collecting quantitative data. The study group of the research consists of randomly chosen 250 children who are 60-72 month old and attending a preschool institution in a city center located West Anatolian region of Turkey. Quantitative data was collected using Feelings about School scale. The scale consists of 12 items and 4 dimensions; school, teacher, mathematic, and literacy. Reliability and validity study for the scale used in the study was conducted by the researchers with 318 children who were 60-72 months old. For content validity experts’ ideas were asked, for construct validity confirmatory factor analysis was utilized. Reliability of the scale was examined by calculating internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach alpha). At the end of the analyses it was found that FAS is a valid and reliable instrument to identify 60-72 month old children’ perception of their academic competency, attitude toward school and ideas about their teachers. For the qualitative dimension of the study, semi-structured interviews were done with 30 children aged 60-72 month. At the end of the study, it was identified that children’s’ perceptions of their academic competencies and attitudes towards school was medium-level and their ideas about their teachers were high. Based on the semi structured interviews done with children, it is identified that they have a positive perception of school and teacher. That means quantitatively gathered data is supported by qualitatively collected data.Keywords: feelings, preschool education, school, teacher, thoughts
Procedia PDF Downloads 2254778 The Impact of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy on the Improvement of the Psychological Wellbeing of Family Supervisor Women
Authors: Kaveh Qaderi Bagajan, Osman Khanahmadi, Ziba Mamaghani Chaharborj, Majid Chenaparchi
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of the solution-focused brief therapy on improving the psychological wellbeing of family supervisor woman. This study has been carried out by semi-experimental method and in the form of pre-test, post-test performance on two groups (experimental and control), so that one sample group of 30 individuals was randomly achieved and were randomly divided in two groups of experimental (n=15) and control (n=15). To collect data, Ryff scale psychological wellbeing was used. After conducting pre-test (RSPWB) for two experimental and control groups, Solution-focused brief therapy interference was conducted on the experimental group during five two-hour sessions. Finally, Ryff scale psychological wellbeing was reused for the two groups as post-test and achieved outcomes that were analyzed using covariance. The results indicated that the significant increase of average marks of the experimental group in psychological wellbeing had better function than that of the control group. Finally, solution-focused brief therapy for improving psychological well-being of family supervisor women has a suitable capability and could be used in this way.Keywords: solution-focused brief therapy, short-term therapy, family supervisor women, psychological well-being
Procedia PDF Downloads 3104777 A New 3D Shape Descriptor Based on Multi-Resolution and Multi-Block CS-LBP
Authors: Nihad Karim Chowdhury, Mohammad Sanaullah Chowdhury, Muhammed Jamshed Alam Patwary, Rubel Biswas
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In content-based 3D shape retrieval system, achieving high search performance has become an important research problem. A challenging aspect of this problem is to find an effective shape descriptor which can discriminate similar shapes adequately. To address this problem, we propose a new shape descriptor for 3D shape models by combining multi-resolution with multi-block center-symmetric local binary pattern operator. Given an arbitrary 3D shape, we first apply pose normalization, and generate a set of multi-viewed 2D rendered images. Second, we apply Gaussian multi-resolution filter to generate several levels of images from each of 2D rendered image. Then, overlapped sub-images are computed for each image level of a multi-resolution image. Our unique multi-block CS-LBP comes next. It allows the center to be composed of m-by-n rectangular pixels, instead of a single pixel. This process is repeated for all the 2D rendered images, derived from both ‘depth-buffer’ and ‘silhouette’ rendering. Finally, we concatenate all the features vectors into one dimensional histogram as our proposed 3D shape descriptor. Through several experiments, we demonstrate that our proposed 3D shape descriptor outperform the previous methods by using a benchmark dataset.Keywords: 3D shape retrieval, 3D shape descriptor, CS-LBP, overlapped sub-images
Procedia PDF Downloads 4454776 A Multi-Objective Optimization Tool for Dual-Mode Operating Active Magnetic Regenerator Model
Authors: Anna Ouskova Leonteva, Michel Risser, Anne Jeannin-Girardon, Pierre Parrend, Pierre Collet
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This paper proposes an efficient optimization tool for an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) model, operating in two modes: magnetic refrigeration system (MRS) and thermo-magnetic generator (TMG). The aim of this optimizer is to improve the design of the AMR by applying a multi-physics multi-scales numerical model as a core of evaluation functions to achieve industrial requirements for refrigeration and energy conservation systems. Based on the multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 3 (NSGA3), it maximizes four different objectives: efficiency and power density for MRS and TMG. The main contribution of this work is in the simultaneously application of a CPU-parallel NSGA3 version to the AMR model in both modes for studying impact of control and design parameters on the performance. The parametric study of the optimization results are presented. The main conclusion is that the common (for TMG and MRS modes) optimal parameters can be found by the proposed tool.Keywords: ecological refrigeration systems, active magnetic regenerator, thermo-magnetic generator, multi-objective evolutionary optimization, industrial optimization problem, real-world application
Procedia PDF Downloads 1144775 Analog Input Output Buffer Information Specification Modelling Techniques for Single Ended Inter-Integrated Circuit and Differential Low Voltage Differential Signaling I/O Interfaces
Authors: Monika Rawat, Rahul Kumar
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Input output Buffer Information Specification (IBIS) models are used for describing the analog behavior of the Input Output (I/O) buffers of a digital device. They are widely used to perform signal integrity analysis. Advantages of using IBIS models include simple structure, IP protection and fast simulation time with reasonable accuracy. As design complexity of driver and receiver increases, capturing exact behavior from transistor level model into IBIS model becomes an essential task to achieve better accuracy. In this paper, an improvement in existing methodology of generating IBIS model for complex I/O interfaces such as Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) and Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) is proposed. Furthermore, the accuracy and computational performance of standard method and proposed approach with respect to SPICE are presented. The investigations will be useful to further improve the accuracy of IBIS models and to enhance their wider acceptance.Keywords: IBIS, signal integrity, open-drain buffer, low voltage differential signaling, behavior modelling, transient simulation
Procedia PDF Downloads 1964774 Mechanical Properties of Ordinary Portland Cement Modified Cold Bitumen Emulsion Mixture
Authors: Hayder Kamil Shanbara, Felicite Ruddock, William Atherton, Nassier A. Nassir
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Cold bitumen emulsion mixture (CBEM) offers a series benefits as compared with hot mix asphalt (HMA); these include environmental factors, energy saving, the resolution of logistical challenges that can characterise hot mix, and the potential to reserve funds. However, this mixture has some problems similar to any bituminous mixtures as it has low early strength, long curing time that needed to obtain the maximum performance, high air voids and considered inferior to HMA. Thus, CBEM has been used in limited applications such as lightly trafficked roads, footways and reinstatements. This laboratory study describes the development of CBEM using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) instead of the traditional mineral filler. Stiffness modulus, moisture damage and temperature sensitivity tests were used to evaluate the mechanical properties of the produced mixtures. The study concluded that there is a substantial improvement in the mechanical properties and moisture damage resistance of CBEMs containing OPC. Also, the produced cement modified CBEM shows a considerable lower thermal sensitivity than the conventional CBEM.Keywords: cold bitumen emulsion mixture, moisture damage, OPC, stiffness modulus, temperature sensitivity
Procedia PDF Downloads 2614773 Creative Thinking in Structural Design of Historic Constructions
Authors: Avraham Mosseri
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The architectural conservation process of the built heritage is a very complex process dealing with the integration of professional knowledge from many fields like history, sociology, economy, engineering, etc. One of the most important fields is the structural field, which has a great influence on the final architectural and aesthetic solution of the built heritage. In many cases, the ability to protect and save the heritage values of the historical buildings is an outcome of the structural creativity and conceptual design of the conservation engineers. This creativity is especially important when dealing with structural engineering of historic construction, where there are a lot of constraints and contradictions between different aspects like aesthetics, artistic values, culture, authenticity, structural performance, etc. But in spite of the importance of this creativity in conservation engineering, many research efforts are mainly devoted to the structural analysis of historic construction, which of course is very important and vital. But, in general, more attention can be paid to the creative process in the conceptual stage. In this situation there is a need, in parallel to analysis research, to devote more resources in order to improve the creative and conceptual theories in relation to conservation engineering. This paper focuses on the creativity aspects in the structural design process in the conservation of historic buildings as part of conservation theories.Keywords: conservation, creativity, historic constructions, structural design
Procedia PDF Downloads 2424772 Optimal Pricing Based on Real Estate Demand Data
Authors: Vanessa Kummer, Maik Meusel
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Real estate demand estimates are typically derived from transaction data. However, in regions with excess demand, transactions are driven by supply and therefore do not indicate what people are actually looking for. To estimate the demand for housing in Switzerland, search subscriptions from all important Swiss real estate platforms are used. These data do, however, suffer from missing information—for example, many users do not specify how many rooms they would like or what price they would be willing to pay. In economic analyses, it is often the case that only complete data is used. Usually, however, the proportion of complete data is rather small which leads to most information being neglected. Also, the data might have a strong distortion if it is complete. In addition, the reason that data is missing might itself also contain information, which is however ignored with that approach. An interesting issue is, therefore, if for economic analyses such as the one at hand, there is an added value by using the whole data set with the imputed missing values compared to using the usually small percentage of complete data (baseline). Also, it is interesting to see how different algorithms affect that result. The imputation of the missing data is done using unsupervised learning. Out of the numerous unsupervised learning approaches, the most common ones, such as clustering, principal component analysis, or neural networks techniques are applied. By training the model iteratively on the imputed data and, thereby, including the information of all data into the model, the distortion of the first training set—the complete data—vanishes. In a next step, the performances of the algorithms are measured. This is done by randomly creating missing values in subsets of the data, estimating those values with the relevant algorithms and several parameter combinations, and comparing the estimates to the actual data. After having found the optimal parameter set for each algorithm, the missing values are being imputed. Using the resulting data sets, the next step is to estimate the willingness to pay for real estate. This is done by fitting price distributions for real estate properties with certain characteristics, such as the region or the number of rooms. Based on these distributions, survival functions are computed to obtain the functional relationship between characteristics and selling probabilities. Comparing the survival functions shows that estimates which are based on imputed data sets do not differ significantly from each other; however, the demand estimate that is derived from the baseline data does. This indicates that the baseline data set does not include all available information and is therefore not representative for the entire sample. Also, demand estimates derived from the whole data set are much more accurate than the baseline estimation. Thus, in order to obtain optimal results, it is important to make use of all available data, even though it involves additional procedures such as data imputation.Keywords: demand estimate, missing-data imputation, real estate, unsupervised learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 285