Search results for: supply chain network design

Authors: E. K. Tripsanas, D. Spanos, I. Oikonomopoulos, K. Stathopoulou, A. S. Abdelsamad, A. Pagoulatos

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Patraikos Gulf is located offshore western Greece, and it is limited to the west by the Zante, Cephalonia, and Lefkas islands. The Plio/Pleistocene sequence is characterized by two depocenters, the east and west Patraikos basins separated from each other by a prominent sill. This study is based on the Plio/Pleistocene seismic stratigraphy analysis of a newly acquired 3D PSDM (Pre-Stack depth migration) seismic survey in the west Patraikos Basin and few 2D seismic profiles throughout the entire Patraikos Gulf. The eastern Patraikos Basin, although completely buried today with water depths less than 100 m, it was a deep basin during Pliocene ( > 2 km of Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments) and appears to have gathered most of Achelous River discharges. The west Patraikos Gulf was shallower ( < 1300 m of Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments) and characterized by a hummocky relief due to thrust-belt tectonics and Miocene to Pleistocene halokinetic processes. The transition from Pliocene to Miocene is expressed by a widespread erosional unconformity with evidence of fluvial drainage patterns. This indicates that west Patraikos Basin was aerially exposed during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Continuous to semi-continuous, parallel reflections in the lower, early- to mid-Pliocene seismic packet provides evidence that the re-connection of the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean during Zanclean resulted in the flooding of the west Patraikos basin and the domination of hemipelagic sedimentation interrupted by occasional gravity flows. This is evident in amplitude and semblance horizon slices, which clearly show the presence of long-running, meandering submarine channels sourced from the southeast (northwest Peloponnese) and north. The long-running nature of the submarine channels suggests mobile efficient turbidity currents, probably due to the participation of a sufficient amount of clay minerals in their suspended load. The upper seismic section in the study area mainly consists of several successions of clinoforms, interpreted as progradational delta complexes of Achelous River. This sudden change from marine to shallow marine sedimentary processes is attributed to climatic changes and eustatic perturbations since late Pliocene onwards (~ 2.6 Ma) and/or a switch of Achelous River from the east Patraikos Basin to the west Patraikos Basin. The deltaic seismic unit consists of four delta complexes. The first two complexes result in the infill of topographic depressions and smoothing of an initial hummocky bathymetry. The distribution of the upper two delta complexes is controlled by compensational stacking. Amplitude and semblance horizon slices depict the development of several almost straight and short (a few km long) distributary submarine channels at the delta slopes and proximal prodeltaic plains with lobate sand-sheet deposits at their mouths. Such channels are interpreted to result from low-efficiency turbidity currents with low content in clay minerals. Such a differentiation in the nature of the gravity flows is attributed to the switch of the sediment supply from clay-rich sediments derived from the draining of flysch formations of the Ionian and Gavrovo zones, to the draining of poor in clay minerals carbonate formations of Gavrovo zone through the Achelous River.

Keywords: sequence stratigraphy, basin analysis, river deltas, submarine channels

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Authors: Chih-Wei Pai, Rong-Chang Jou

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Using A1 A2 police-reported accident data for years 2003–2010 in Taiwan, the paper examines anatomic injuries and crash characteristics specific to pedestrians in “facing traffic” and “back to traffic” crashes. There were 2768 and 7558 accidents involving pedestrians walking along with/against traffic respectively. Injuries sustained by pedestrians and crash characteristics in these two crash types were compared with those in other crash types (nearside crash, nearside dart-out crash, offside crash, offside dart-out crash). Main findings include that “back to traffic” crashes resulted in more severe injuries, and pedestrians in “back to traffic” crashes had increased head, neck, and spine injuries than those in other crash types; and there was an elevated risk of head injuries in unlit darkness and NBU (non-built-up) roadways. Several crash features (e.g. unlit darkness, overtaking maneuvers, phone use by pedestrians and drivers, intoxicated drivers) appear to be over-involved in “back to traffic” crashes. The implications of the research findings regarding pedestrian/driver education, enforcement, and remedial engineering design are discussed.

Keywords: pedestrian accident, crash characteristics, injury, facing traffic, back to traffic

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Authors: Jalil Boudjadar

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Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) multicore platforms are promising execution platforms that enable high computational performance, less energy consumption and flexibility in scheduling the system processes. However, the resulting interleaving and memory interference together with per-core frequency tuning make real-time guarantees hard to be delivered. Besides, energy consumption represents a strong constraint for the deployment of such systems on energy-limited settings. Identifying the system configurations that would achieve a high performance and consume less energy while guaranteeing the system schedulability is a complex task in the design of modern embedded systems. This work studies the trade-off between energy consumption, cores utilization and memory bottleneck and their impact on the schedulability of DVFS multicore time-critical systems with a hierarchy of shared memories. We build a model-based framework using Parametrized Timed Automata of UPPAAL to analyze the mutual impact of performance, energy consumption and schedulability of DVFS multicore systems, and demonstrate the trade-off on an actual case study.

Keywords: time-critical systems, multicore systems, schedulability analysis, energy consumption, performance analysis

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Authors: B. J. Sonani, J. K. Ratnadhariya, Srinivas Palanki

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Cryogenic engineering is the fast growing branch of the modern technology. There are various applications of the cryogenic engineering such as liquefaction in gas industries, metal industries, medical science, space technology, and transportation. The low-temperature technology developed superconducting materials which lead to reduce the friction and wear in various components of the systems. The liquid oxygen, hydrogen and helium play vital role in space application. The liquefaction process is produced very low temperature liquid for various application in research and modern application. The air liquefaction system for oxygen plants in gas industries is based on the Claude cycle. The effect of process parameters on the overall system is difficult to be analysed by manual calculations, and this provides the motivation to use process simulators for understanding the steady state and dynamic behaviour of such systems. The parametric study of this system via MATLAB simulations provide useful guidelines for preliminary design of air liquefaction system based on the Claude cycle. Every organization is always trying for reduce the cost and using the optimum performance of the plant for the staying in the competitive market.

Keywords: cryogenic, liquefaction, low -temperature, oxygen, claude cycle, optimization, MATLAB

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Authors: Rostyslav Horbay, Nick Korolis, Vahid Anvari, Rostyslav Stoika

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Introduction: Giant cancer cells (GCC) are common in all types of cancer, especially after poor therapy. Some specific features of such cells include ~10-fold enlargement, drug resistance, and the ability to propagate similar daughter cells. We used murine NK/Ly lymphoma, an aggressive and fast growing lymphoma model that has already shown drastic changes in GCC comparing to parental cells (chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation, tighter OXPHOS/cellular respiration coupling, multidrug resistance). Materials and methods: In this study, we compared morpho-functional changes of GCC that predominantly show either a cytostatic or a cytotoxic effect after treatment with drugs. We studied the effect of a combined cytostatic/cytotoxic drug treatment to determine the correlation of drug efficiency and GCC formation. Doses of G1/S-specific drug paclitaxel/PTX (G2/M-specific, 50 mg/mouse), vinblastine/VBL (50 mg/mouse), and DNA-targeting agents doxorubicin/DOX (125 ng/mouse) and cisplatin/CP (225 ng/mouse) on C57 black mice. Several tests were chosen to estimate morphological and physiological state (propidium iodide, Rhodamine-123, DAPI, JC-1, Janus Green, Giemsa staining and other), which included cell integrity, nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation, mitochondrial activity, and others. A single and double factor ANOVA analysis were performed to determine correlation between the criteria of applied drugs and cytomorphological changes. Results: In all cases of treatment, several morphological changes were observed (intracellular vacuolization, membrane blebbing, and interconnected mitochondrial network). A lower gain in ascites (49.97% comparing to control group) and longest lifespan (22+9 days) after tumor injection was obtained with single VBL and single DOX injections. Such ascites contained the highest number of GCC (83.7%+9.2%), lowest cell count number (72.7+31.0 mln/ml), and a strong correlation coefficient between increased mitochondrial activity and percentage of giant NK/Ly cells. A high number of viable GCC (82.1+9.2%) was observed compared to the parental forms (15.4+11.9%) indicating that GCC are more drug resistant than the parental cells. All this indicates that the giant cell formation and its ability to obtain drug resistance is an expanding field in cancer research.

Keywords: ANOVA, cisplatin, doxorubicin, drug resistance, giant cancer cells, NK/Ly lymphoma, paclitaxel, vinblastine

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Authors: Aulia F. Hadining, Atya Nur Aisha, Dimas Kurninatoro Aji

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Utilization of social media as a marketing tool is growing rapidly, including for SMEs. Social media allows the user to give product evaluation and recommendations to the public. In addition, the social media facilitate word-of-mouth marketing communication. One of the social media that can be used is Facebook, with Facebook Ads. This study aimed to evaluate the location of Facebook Ads, to obtain an appropriate advertising design. There are three alternatives location consist of desktop, right-hand column and mobile. The effectiveness and efficiency of advertising will be measured based on advertising metrics such as reach, click, Cost per Click (CUC) and Unique Click-Through-Rate (UCTR). Facebook's Ads Manager was used for seven days, targeted by age (18-24), location (Bandung), language (Indonesia) and keywords. The result was 13,999 total reach, as well as 342 clicks. Based on the results of comparison using ANOVA, there was a significant difference for each placement location based on advertising metrics. Mobile location was chosen to be successful ads, because it produces the lowest CUC, amounting to Rp 691,- per click and 14% UCTR. Results of this study showed Facebook Ads was useful and cost-effective media to promote the product of SME, because it could be view by many people in the same time.

Keywords: marketing communication, social media, Facebook Ads, mobile location

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Yu-Ching Lin, Hsi-Ya Chang

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With the development of virtualization technologies, a new type of service named cloud computing service is produced. Cloud users usually encounter the problem of how to use the virtualized platform easily over the web without requiring the plug-in or installation of special software. The object of this paper is to develop a system and a method enabling process interfacing within an automation scenario for accessing remote application by using the web browser. To meet this challenge, we have devised a web-based interface that system has allowed to shift the GUI application from the traditional local environment to the cloud platform, which is stored on the remote virtual machine. We designed the sketch of web interface following the cloud virtualization concept that sought to enable communication and collaboration among users. We describe the design requirements of remote application technology and present implementation details of the web application and its associated components. We conclude that this effort has the potential to provide an elastic and resilience environment for several application services. Users no longer have to burden the system maintenances and reduce the overall cost of software licenses and hardware. Moreover, this remote application service represents the next step to the mobile workplace, and it lets user to use the remote application virtually from anywhere.

Keywords: virtualization technology, virtualized platform, web interface, remote application

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Authors: Shib Shankar Banerjeea, Andreas Ferya, Gert Heinricha, Amit Das

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Recently, the growing need for the development of soft robots consisting of highly deformable and compliance materials emerge from the serious limitations of conventional service robots. However, one of the main challenges of soft robotics is to develop such compliance materials, which facilitates the design of soft robotic structures and, simultaneously, controls the soft-body systems, like soft artificial muscles. Generally, silicone or acrylic-based elastomer composites are used for soft robotics. However, mechanical performance and long-term reliabilities of the functional parts (sensors, actuators, main body) of the robot made from these composite materials are inferior. This work will present the development and characterization of robust super-soft programmable elastomeric materials from crosslinked natural rubber that can serve as touch and strain sensors for soft robotic arms with very high elastic properties and strain, while the modulus is altered in the kilopascal range. Our results suggest that such soft natural programmable elastomers can be promising materials and can replace conventional silicone-based elastomer for soft robotics applications.

Keywords: elastomers, soft materials, natural rubber, sensors

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Authors: Chunhua Ma

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Background: There is a relationship between cultural identity and psychological health. Resilience is an important factor of psychological health, and cultural identity will protect the resilience. The research showed that the cultural identity, resilience, and self-concordance of students from different cultures. It should be a theoretical basis to improve mental health of different nationalities students. And the role of resilience factors for adults’ cultural identity and self-concordance was deserve studied. Aims: The current study aimed to examine the relationship between cultural identity and self-concordance among Chinese academician from 3 minorities, postulating mediating by resilience. Methods: This study used cross-sectional and correlational design. Participants were 328 Chinese aged between 18 and 25 years. Data was collected via self-reports including both closed and opened questions. Results: Linear regression analysis controlling for age, gender, the result showed that: (a) Cultural identity was related to self-concordance, resilience was related to self-concordance and cultural identity was related to resilience, (b) Resilience mediated the link between cultural identity and self-concordance, respectively. Discussion: Our findings suggested that resilience and cultural identity are important factors in self-concordance. If minority college students realized the heterogeneous culture, it would alleviate their psychological conflict, stimulate their strength potential and improve their self-concordance.

Keywords: cultural identity, resilience, self-concordance, mediating effect

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Authors: Patricia Crentsil, Alvina Oriekhova

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The aim of the study is to determine social responsibility in the theory of organisation management. The main objectives are to examine the link between accountability,transparency, and ethical onorganisation management. The study seeks to answer questions that have received inadequate attention in social responsibility literature. Specifically, how accountability, transparency of policy, and ethical aspect enhanced organisation management? The target population of the study comprises of Deans and Head of Departments of Public Universities and Technical Universities in Ghana. The study used purposive sampling technique to select the Public Universities and technical universities in Ghana and adopted simple random Technique to select 300 participants from all Technical Universities in Ghana and 500 participants from all Traditional Universities in Ghana. The sample size will be 260 using confidence level = 95%, Margin of Error = 5%. The study used both primary and secondary data. The study adopted exploratory design to address the research questions. Results indicated thataccountability, transparency, and ethical have a positive significant link with organisation management. The study suggested that management can motivate an organization to act in a socially responsible manner.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, organisation management, organisation management theory, social responsibility

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Authors: L. Ashok Kumar, N. Sujith Kumar

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Most of the PV systems are designed with transformer for safety purpose with galvanic isolation. However, the transformer is big, heavy and expensive. Also, it reduces the overall frequency of the conversion stage. Generally PV inverter with transformer is having efficiency around 92%–94% only. To overcome these problems, transformerless PV system is introduced. It is smaller, lighter, cheaper and higher in efficiency. However, dangerous leakage current will flow between PV array and the grid due to the stray capacitance. There are different types of configurations available for transformerless inverters like H5, H6, HERIC, oH5, and Dual paralleled buck inverter. But each configuration is suffering from its own disadvantages like high conduction losses, shoot-through issues of switches, dead-time requirements at zero crossing instants of grid voltage to avoid grid shoot-through faults and MOSFET reverse recovery issues. The main objective of the proposed transformerless inverter is to address two key issues: One key issue for a transformerless inverter is that it is necessary to achieve high efficiency compared to other existing inverter topologies. Another key issue is that the inverter configuration should not have any shoot-through issues for higher reliability.

Keywords: grid-connected, photovoltaic (PV) systems, transformerless inverter, stray capacitance, common-mode, leakage current, pulse width modulation (PWM)

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Authors: Majed M. Mustafa, Abdulrahman A. Altassan

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In recent years, ensuring accessibility for all individuals, particularly those with mobility impairments, has gained significant attention in Saudi Arabia. This research aims to evaluate wheelchair accessibility in shopping centers, malls, and stores across the kingdom, highlighting its critical role in promoting inclusivity and equal access. The study will focus on the availability and quality of ramps, automatic doors, lifts, accessible restrooms, and overall ease of navigation for wheelchair users. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research will employ site assessments, user surveys, and interviews with facility managers to gather comprehensive data. Preliminary findings indicate that while some facilities have made strides in accessibility, there are still numerous areas requiring improvement. The study will provide targeted recommendations to enhance accessibility, ensuring that all users can navigate shopping environments with ease and dignity. Conclusively, this research underscores the need for continuous efforts and policy enhancements to achieve universal design standards in public spaces within Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: automatic doors, equal access, ramp quality, wheelchair accessibility

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Authors: Neha Bhushan

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For the purpose of this study a village of district Azamgarh has been selected which is a part of the most populous and backward state of the country, Uttar Pradesh. In the age of information, everyone has the right to acquire information and it becomes important to assess the acceptance and non-acceptance of social media among rural population. Rural women of the state are showing positive trends in the form of increased social media and mobile usage. This study is an effort to know the purpose of rural women for using social media. The study design is exploratory and qualitative in nature. Data collection primarily consisted of 25 semi-structured individual interviews having 10 open-ended specific questions in one of the villages of Azamgarh district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Sampling approach is flexible and situational. Data reveals that rural women have become active on social media since last six months to one year. Most of them are using Facebook, Whatsapp, and YouTube for the purpose of interaction, learning new skills, checking out recipes and latest fashion. This pilot study gives a bird eye view of the problem and opens door for exploring this least explored area.

Keywords: exploratory research, mobile usage, rural women, social media

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Authors: U. L. Fulco, E. L. Albuquerque, José X. Lima Neto, L. R. Da Silva

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The binding of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IBU) to human serum albumin (HSA) is investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations within a fragmentation strategy. Crystallographic data for the IBU–HSA supramolecular complex shows that the ligand is confined to a large cavity at the subdomain IIIA and at the interface between the subdomains IIA and IIB, whose binding sites are FA3/FA4 and FA6, respectively. The interaction energy between the IBU molecule and each amino acid residue of these HSA binding pockets was calculated using the Molecular Fractionation with Conjugate Caps (MFCC) approach employing a dispersion corrected exchange–correlation functional. Our investigation shows that the total interaction energy of IBU bound to HSA at binding sites of the fatty acids FA3/FA4 (FA6) converges only for a pocket radius of at least 8.5 °A, mainly due to the action of residues Arg410, Lys414 and Ser489 (Lys351, Ser480 and Leu481) and residues in nonhydrophobic domains, namely Ile388, Phe395, Phe403, Leu407, Leu430, Val433, and Leu453 (Phe206, Ala210, Ala213, and Leu327), which is unusual. Our simulations are valuable for a better understanding of the binding mechanism of IBU to albumin and can lead to the rational design and the development of novel IBU-derived drugs with improved potency.

Keywords: ibuprofen, human serum albumin, density functional theory, binding energies

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Authors: Nestor C. Nabe, Melvie F. Bayog

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The cultural competence of police officers can lead to effective law enforcement and gain respect to their organization. This study evaluated the level of cultural competence of Philippine National Police Personnel in Midsayap, Cotabato, Philippines. Descriptive survey research design was used in this study. The survey utilized an adapted questionnaire to measure the level of cultural competence of the respondents. Questionnaires were administered to 305 ethnic minorities coming from the four major ethnic tribes in Midsayap, Cotabato, Philippines. The data gathered were treated using Percentage, Mean, T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings are as follows: the level of cultural competence of police personnel is moderate; and, there is no significant difference in the cultural competence of the police personnel when analyzed by age, gender, civil status and, occupation while there is a significant difference analyzed by educational attainment and ethnic tribe. Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn: the level of cultural competence of police personnel is only manifested sometimes; and, civil status, and occupation has no significant difference in the cultural competence of police personnel while educational attainment and ethnic tribe has a significant difference.

Keywords: competence, cultural, Philippines, police

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Authors: Diyaolu Babajide Olufemi, Oyerinde Oyewole Olusesan

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This study examined the effect of sex education training programs on the knowledge and practice of sexual risk behavior among secondary school adolescents in Ibadan North Local Government area of Oyo State. A total of 105 students were sampled from two schools in the Local Government area. Seventy students (70) constituted the experimental group while thirty-five (35) constituted the control group. Pretest-Posttest control group quasi-experimental design was adopted. A self-developed questionnaire was used to test participants’ knowledge and practice of sexual risk behavior before and after the training (α=.62, .82 and .74). Analysis indicated a significant effect of sex education training on participants’ knowledge and practice of sexual risk behavior, a significant gender difference in knowledge of sexual risk behavior but no significant age and gender difference in the practice of sexual risk behavior. It was thus concluded that sex education should be taught in schools and emphasized at homes with no age or gender restrictions.

Keywords: early adolescent, health risk, sexual risk behavior, sex education

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Authors: Serikma Mourad, Mezidi Amar

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The conception (design) of an earthquake-resistant structure is a complex problem seen the necessity of meeting the requirements of security been imperative by the regulations, and of economy been imperative by the increasing costs of the structures. The resistance of a building in the horizontal actions (shares) is mainly ensured by a mixed brace system; for a concrete building, this system is constituted by frame or shells; or both at the same time. After the earthquake of Boumerdes (May 23; 2003) in Algeria, the studies made by experts, ended in modifications of the Algerian Earthquake-resistant Regulation (AER 99). One of these modifications was to widen the use of shells for the brace system. This modification has create a conflict on the quantities, the positions and the type of the shells at adopt. In the present project, we suggest seeing the effect of the variation of the dimensions, the localization and the conditions of rigidity in extremities of shells. The study will be led on a building (F+5) implanted in zone of seismicity average. To do it, we shall proceed to a classic dynamic study of a structure by using 4 alternatives for shells by varying the lengths and number in order to compare the cost of the structure for 4 dispositions of the shells with a technical-economic study of the brace system by the use of different dispositions of shells and to estimate the quantities of necessary materials (concrete and steel).

Keywords: reinforced concrete, mixed brace system, dynamic analysis, beams, shells

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Authors: Orsolya Horvath, Laszlo Deres, Krisztian Eros, Katalin Ordog, Tamas Habon, Balazs Sumegi, Kalman Toth, Robert Halmosi

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Introduction: Oxidative stress induces an imbalance in mitochondrial fusion and fission processes, finally leading to cell death. The two antioxidant molecules, BGP-15 and L2286 have beneficial effects on mitochondrial functions and on cellular oxidative stress response. In this work, we studied the effects of these compounds on the processes of mitochondrial quality control. Methods: We used H9c2 cardiomyoblast and isolated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCM) for the experiments. The concentration of stressors and antioxidants was beforehand determined with MTT test. We applied 1-Methyl-3-nitro-1-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in 125 µM, 400 µM and 800 µM concentrations for 4 and 8 hours on H9c2 cells. H₂O₂ was applied in 150 µM and 300 µM concentration for 0.5 and 4 hours on both models. L2286 was administered in 10 µM, while BGP-15 in 50 µM doses. Cellular levels of the key proteins playing role in mitochondrial dynamics were measured in Western blot samples. For the analysis of mitochondrial network dynamics, we applied electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Results: Due to MNNG treatment the level of fusion proteins (OPA1, MFN2) decreased, while the level of fission protein DRP1 elevated markedly. The levels of fusion proteins OPA1 and MNF2 increased in the L2286 and BGP-15 treated groups. During the 8 hour treatment period, the level of DRP1 also increased in the treated cells (p < 0.05). In the H₂O₂ stressed cells, administration of L2286 increased the level of OPA1 in both H9c2 and NRCM models. MFN2 levels in isolated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes raised considerably due to BGP-15 treatment (p < 0.05). L2286 administration decreased the DRP1 level in H9c2 cells (p < 0.05). We observed that the H₂O₂-induced mitochondrial fragmentation could be decreased by L2286 treatment. Conclusion: Our results indicated that the PARP-inhibitor L2286 has beneficial effect on mitochondrial dynamics during oxidative stress scenario, and also in the case of directly induced DNA damage. We could make the similar conclusions in case of BGP-15 administration, which, via reducing ROS accumulation, propagates fusion processes, this way aids preserving cellular viability. Funding: GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00049; GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00048; GINOP-2.3.3-15-2016-00025; EFOP-3.6.1-16-2016-00004; ÚNKP-17-4-I-PTE-209

Keywords: H9c2, mitochondrial dynamics, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, oxidative stress

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Authors: Baffoe Kingsley

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The consequence of the migration of young people from rural farming communities in the global south to the global north is a well-known phenomenon. While climate change and its accompanying socio-economic structures continue to be the driver, what is not really known is how left behinds are compelled to convert lands meant for the production of traditional staples such as cereals, vegetables, and tubers to the production of export-driven cashew plantations due to youth migration. The consequence of such migration on the development of Ghana and its food security is multidimensional. Using an ethnographic research design, the study revealed that the majority of farmers in the area are now aged, and farm labor has become scarce, which has impeded the cultivation of traditional staples for the population. It has also been established that in the absence of farm labor, most farmers have reduced farm sizes for the production of staples and increased the production of cashews. The practice has, in tend, resulted in a scarcity of land for the cultivation of staples. The study recommends further inquiry into how the effects of migration and cashew production as diversification in agriculture influence national development in Ghana.

Keywords: staple food crops, cashew plantations, climate change, migration

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Authors: Amit Singla, Amit Chauhan

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The non-circular journal bearings provide better thermal stability and lesser oil-film temperature rise as compared to circular journal bearings. Experimentation on simultaneous measurement of pressure and temperature of lubricated oil-film along the profile of the bearing will help the designer to design journal bearings. In this paper, pressure and temperature of oil-film along orthogonally displaced non-circular journal bearing have been measured on a designed journal bearing test rig. The orthogonal non-circular journal bearing has been fabricated by displacing two circular halves away from the centers in the orthogonal direction. The data acquisition for oil film pressure and temperature has been carried out at journal speed=3000 rpm and by increasing the static radial load from 500 N to 2000 N in steps of 500 N using three different grades of oil (ISOVG 32, 68, and 150) named as oil-1, oil-2, and oil-3 respectively. The results show that the oil-film pressure and temperature increases with increase in radial load and change of lubricating oil towards increasing viscosity. Further, two lobes in the pressure and temperature profiles have been obtained which accounts for better thermal stability as it reduces cavitation zone inside the bearing.

Keywords: cavitation, non-circular journal bearing, orthogonally displaced, thermal stability

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Authors: Hela Ayeb Mrabtini, Ghazi Bellakhal, Jamel Chahed

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The presence of the dispersed phase in gas-liquid bubbly flow considerably alters the liquid turbulence. The bubbles induce turbulent fluctuations that enhance the global liquid turbulence level and alter the mechanisms of turbulence. RANS modeling of uniformly sheared flows on an isolated sphere centered in a control volume is performed using first and second order turbulence closures. The sphere is placed in the production-dissipation equilibrium zone where the liquid velocity is set equal to the relative velocity of the bubbles. The void fraction is determined by the ratio between the sphere volume and the control volume. The analysis of the turbulence statistics on the control volume provides numerical results that are interpreted with regard to the effect of the bubbles wakes on the turbulence structure in uniformly sheared bubbly flow. We assumed for this purpose that at low void fraction where there is no hydrodynamic interaction between the bubbles, the single-phase flow simulation on an isolated sphere is representative on statistical average of a sphere network. The numerical simulations were firstly validated against the experimental data of bubbly homogeneous turbulence with constant shear and then extended to produce numerical results for a wide range of shear rates from 0 to 10 s^-1. These results are compared with our turbulence closure proposed for gas-liquid bubbly flows. In this closure, the turbulent stress tensor in the liquid is split into a turbulent dissipative part produced by the gradient of the mean velocity which also contains the turbulence generated in the bubble wakes and a pseudo-turbulent non-dissipative part induced by the bubbles displacements. Each part is determined by a specific transport equation. The simulations of uniformly sheared flows on an isolated sphere reproduce the mechanisms related to the turbulent part, and the numerical results are in perfect accordance with the modeling of the transport equation of the turbulent part. The reduction of second order turbulence closure provides a description of the modification of turbulence structure by the bubbles presence using a dimensionless number expressed in terms of two-time scales characterizing the turbulence induced by the shear and that induced by bubbles displacements. The numerical simulations carried out in the framework of a comprehensive analysis reproduce particularly the attenuation of the turbulent friction showed in the experimental results of bubbly homogeneous turbulence subjected to a constant shear.

Keywords: gas-liquid bubbly flows, homogeneous turbulence, turbulence closure, uniform shear

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Authors: Celina Nowak

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The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and a consequent growth of cyberspace have become a reality of modern societies. The newest addition to this complex structure has been Internet of Things which is due to the appearance of smart devices. IoT creates a new dimension of the network, as the communication is no longer the domain of just humans, but has also become possible between devices themselves. The possibility of communication between devices, devoid of human intervention and real-time supervision, generated new societal and legal challenges. Some of them may and certainly will eventually be connected to criminal law. Legislators both on national and international level have been struggling to cope with this technologically evolving environment in order to address new threats created by the ICT. There are legal instruments on cybercrime, however imperfect and not of universal scope, sometimes referring to specific types of prohibited behaviors undertaken by criminals, such as money laundering, sex offences. However, the criminal law seems largely not prepared to the challenges which may arise because of the development of IoT. This is largely due to the fact that criminal law, both on national and international level, is still based on the concept of perpetration of an offence by a human being. This is a traditional approach, historically and factually justified. Over time, some legal systems have developed or accepted the possibility of commission of an offence by a corporation, a legal person. This is in fact a legal fiction, as a legal person cannot commit an offence as such, it needs humans to actually behave in a certain way on its behalf. Yet, the legislators have come to understand that corporations have their own interests and may benefit from crime – and therefore need to be penalized. This realization however has not been welcome by all states and still give rise to doubts of ontological and theoretical nature in many legal systems. For this reason, in many legislations the liability of legal persons for commission of an offence has not been recognized as criminal responsibility. With the technological progress and the growing use of IoT the discussions referring to criminal responsibility of corporations seem rather inadequate. The world is now facing new challenges and new threats related to the ‘smart’ things. They will have to be eventually addressed by legislators if they want to, as they should, to keep up with the pace of technological and societal evolution. This will however require a reevaluation and possibly restructuring of the most fundamental notions of modern criminal law, such as perpetration, guilt, participation in crime. It remains unclear at this point what norms and legal concepts will be and may be established. The main goal of the research is to point out to the challenges ahead of the national and international legislators in the said context and to attempt to formulate some indications as to the directions of changes, having in mind serious threats related to privacy and security related to the use of IoT.

Keywords: criminal law, internet of things, privacy, security threats

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Authors: Rosa Hendijani, Amir Ghadimi Herfeh

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Nutrition labels are diet-related health policies. They help individuals improve food-choice decisions and reduce intake of calories and unhealthy food elements, like cholesterol. However, many individuals do not pay attention to nutrition labels or fail to appropriately understand them. According to the literature, thinking and cognitive styles can have significant effects on attention to nutrition labels. According to the author's knowledge, the effect of global/local processing on attention to nutrition labels have not been previously studied. Global/local processing encourages individuals to attend to the whole/specific parts of an object and can have a significant impact on people's visual attention. In this study, this effect was examined with an experimental design using the eye-tracking technique. The research hypothesis was that individuals with local processing would pay more attention to nutrition labels, including nutrition tables and traffic lights. An experiment was designed with two conditions: global and local information processing. Forty participants were randomly assigned to either global or local conditions, and their processing style was manipulated accordingly. Results supported the hypothesis for nutrition tables but not for traffic lights.

Keywords: eye-tracking, nutrition labelling, global/local information processing, individual differences

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Authors: Kapse Swapnil, K. Shankar

Abstract:

Aiming at optimizing the weight and deflection of cantilever beam subjected to maximum stress and maximum deflection, Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) with Utopia Point based local search is implemented. Utopia point is used to govern the search towards the Pareto Optimal set. The elite candidates obtained during the iterations are stored in an archive according to non-dominated sorting and also the archive is truncated based on least crowding distance. Local search is also performed on elite candidates and the most diverse particle is selected as the global best. This method is implemented on standard test functions and it is observed that the improved algorithm gives better convergence and diversity as compared to NSGA-II in fewer iterations. Implementation on practical structural problem shows that in 5 to 6 iterations, the improved algorithm converges with better diversity as evident by the improvement of cantilever beam on an average of 0.78% and 9.28% in the weight and deflection respectively compared to NSGA-II.

Keywords: Utopia point, multi-objective particle swarm optimization, local search, cantilever beam

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Authors: Apurba Kanti Chowdhury, Taslima Zahan

Abstract:

The inclusion of mungbean in a cropping pattern not only increases the cropping intensity but also enriches soil health as well as ensures nutrition for the fast-growing population of Bangladesh. A study was conducted in the farmers’ field during 2013-14 and 2014-15 to observe the performance of four-crop based improve cropping pattern Potato-Mungbean-Jute -t.aman rice against the existing cropping pattern Potato-Jute -t.aman rice at Domar, Nilphamari followed by randomized complete block design with three replications. Two years study revealed that inclusion of mungbean and better management practices in improved cropping pattern provided higher economic benefit over the existing pattern by 73.1%. Moreover, the average yield of potato increased in the improved pattern by 64.3% compared to the existing pattern; however yield of jute and t.aman rice in improved pattern declined by 5.6% and 10.7% than the existing pattern, respectively. Nevertheless, the additional yield of mungbean in the improved pattern helped to increase rice equivalent yield of the whole pattern by 38.7% over the existing pattern. Thus, the addition of mungbean in the existing pattern Potato-Jute -t.aman rice seems to be profitable for the farmers and also might be sustainable if the market channel of mungbean developed.

Keywords: crop diversity, food nutrition, production efficiency, yield improvement

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Authors: Jamileh Darsareh, Mohammad Nikafrooz

Abstract:

Some teachers and e-content producers, based on their experiences, try to produce educational videos using screen recording software. There are many challenges that they may encounter while producing screen-recorded videos. These are in the domains of technical and pedagogical challenges like designing the roadmap, preparing the screen, setting the recording software and recording the screen, editing, etc. This study is a descriptive study and tries to present some procedures for producing acceptable and well-made videos. These procedures are presented in the form of an algorithm for producing screen-recorded video. This algorithm presents the main producing phases, including design, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. These phases consist of some steps which are supported by several technical and pedagogical considerations. Following these phases and steps according to the suggested order helps the producers to produce their intended and desired video by saving time and also facing fewer technical problems. It is expected that by using this algorithm, e-content producers and teachers gain better performance in producing educational videos.

Keywords: e-content producing algorithm, screen-recorded videos, screen recording software, technical and pedagogical considerations

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Authors: Oginni Omoniyi Israel

Abstract:

This study evaluated the implementation of public examination Chief Examiners’ Reports (CER) in mathematics curriculum contents in Ekiti State Senior Secondary schools, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design of survey type. The sample consisted of 60 mathematics teachers and 120 students using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The instruments used were “Questionnaire on Teachers Implementation of Chief Examiners’ Report and Mathematics Curriculum Contents (QTICERMCC) and Questionnaire on Students Knowledge of Chief Examiners’ Report and Mathematics Curriculum Contents Implementation (SIERMCC)”. The validity of the instruments was carried out by experts, while the reliability coefficients of 0.85 and 0.87 were obtained through Cronbach’s Alpha formula. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between awareness, availability, and accessibility of CER as well as mathematics curriculum contents. There was also a significant relationship in the implementation of CER in mathematics between teachers and students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the examination bodies should organize an enlightment programme annually to create awareness of the utilization of CER among the stakeholders.

Keywords: evaluation, implementation, chief examiners’ reports, curriculum contents

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Authors: Fahmida Nusrat, Sumaia Nasrin, Pinak Sarker

Abstract:

Biharis as an urban refugee are a significant urban dweller in Dhaka since their forced migration on the partition of 1947. There are many such refugee settlements in Bangladesh, particularly in Dhaka where they often live in dire conditions, facing discrimination from mainstream society. Their camps have become slums. Housing for urban refugee is still not a strategic concern for overall housing policy of Dhaka. The study has been conducted in a significant refugee settlement located in Mirpur-11, Dhaka, to observe their way of living in these camps to understand the socio-cultural aspects that are shaping their settlement morphology, hence to identify the key issues of their built environment to suggest an inclusive and sustainable housing solution for improving their life in urban environment. The methods included first-hand data collection on their household spaces and community spaces accompanied with the overall spatial organization of the settlement pattern which later on followed by a semi-structured interview with randomly selected samples from the camp dwellers to get users’ feedback on the research aspects. The outcome of the study will help initiating housing strategies as well as formulating design issues for this case specific inhabitants of urban Dhaka.

Keywords: Bihari camp, Dhaka, housing strategy, the way of living, urban refugee

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Tae Gwan Kim, Hyun Kyu Cho, Young Hoon Lee, Young Chul Park

Abstract:

Foam monitors are devices that are installed on cargo tank decks to suppress cargo area fires in oil tankers or hazardous chemical ship cargo ships. In general, the main design parameter of the foam monitor is the distance of the projection through the foam monitor. In this study, the relationship between flow characteristics and projection distance, depending on the shape was examined. Numerical techniques for fluid analysis of foam monitors have been developed for prediction. The flow pattern of the fluid varies depending on the shape of the flow path of the foam monitor, as the flow losses affecting projection distance were calculated through numerical analysis. The basic shape of the foam monitor was an L shape designed by N Company. The modified model increased the length of the flow path and used the S shape model. The calculation result shows that the L shape, which is the basic shape, has a problem that the force is directed to one side and the vibration and noise are generated there. In order to solve the problem, S-shaped model, which is a change model, was used. As a result, the problem is solved, and the projection distance from the nozzle is improved.

Keywords: CFD, foam monitor, projection distance, moment

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Fadwa Alhalaiqa, Ahmad Al-Nawafleh, Abdul-Monim Batiha, Rami Masadeh, Aida Abd Alrazek

Abstract:

Healthy lifestyle recommendations (e.g. physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, increased cholesterol levels, obesity, and poor stress management) play an important role in controlling BP. This study aimed to assess lifestyle modification factors among patient diagnosed with hypertension. Methods and materials: A cross section-survey design was used. Data was collected by four questionnaires one was the beliefs about medication (BMQ) and rest were developed to collect data about demographics and clinical characteristics and lifestyle modification factors. Results: Total 312 questionnaires had been completed. The participants had a mean age of 57.6 years (SD =11.8). The results revealed that our participants did not follow healthy lifestyle recommendations; for example the means BS level, BMI, and cholesterol levels were 155 mg/dl (SD= 71.9), 29 kg/2m (SD= 5.4) and 197 mg/dl (SD= 86.6) respectively. A significant correlation was shown between age and BP (P= 0.000). Increase in DBP correlates with a significant increase in cholesterol level (P= .002) and BMI (P= .006). Conclusion: Hypertensive patients did not adhere to healthy lifestyle modification factors. Therefore, an urgent action by addressing behavioral risk factors has a positive impact on preventing and controlling hypertension.

Keywords: adherence, healthy lifestyle, hypertension, patients

Procedia PDF Downloads 272